KOSPI Weakens Amid US Interest Rate Hike and Chinese Stock Market Decline... KOSDAQ Also Falls ↓

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] The KOSPI is showing weakness in the afternoon due to concerns over the U.S. Federal Reserve's (Fed) interest rate hike and the decline in the Chinese stock market.

At 1 p.m. on the 15th, the KOSPI stood at 2626.75, down 0.71% (18.90 points) from the previous trading day. On this day, foreigners and institutions led the decline by net selling 417.8 billion KRW and 45.8 billion KRW respectively in the KOSPI market. Individuals net bought 466.2 billion KRW.

The KOSPI fell about 1% around 10:50 a.m. The expected 0.25 percentage point interest rate hike by the Fed at the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on the 15th-16th (local time) led to the domestic stock market decline. The lockdown of cities such as Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, China, due to the spread of COVID-19 also affected the weakness in the Chinese stock market. The Shanghai Composite Index recorded a 2.18% drop to 3153.1. However, the decline narrowed as China's industrial production in January-February increased by 7.5% year-on-year. Seosangyoung, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, explained, "The KOSPI index was pushed down by the falling Chinese stock market, but the good Chinese economic indicators helped reduce the decline."

Among the top market capitalization stocks, LG Chem fell 2.63% and SK Hynix 2.59%, recording the largest drops. This was followed by Samsung SDI (-1.12%), Kakao (-0.97%), LG Energy Solution (-0.83%), Hyundai Motor (-0.61%), Samsung Electronics (-0.43%), and Naver (-0.15%). Samsung Biologics (0.75%) and Kia (0.73%) showed upward trends.

By sector, machinery (-3.36%), construction (-2.75%), transportation and warehousing (-2.27%), chemicals (-1.53%), and steel & metals (-1.44%) fell, while medical precision (3.66%), banking (2.14%), textiles & apparel (0.36%), and finance (0.2%) showed gains.

At the same time, the KOSDAQ index recorded 872.22, down 0.03% (0.22 points) from the previous session. Foreigners and institutions net sold 51.3 billion KRW and 28.1 billion KRW respectively, while individuals net bought 82.2 billion KRW.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, HLB showed strong gains, rising more than 8%. Studio Dragon and Kakao Games also recorded increases of 0.99% and 0.96%, respectively. On the other hand, Pearl Abyss (-2.86%), Reno Industrial (-1.99%), and Wemade (-1.66%) showed declines.