Seoul shares sharply down late Mon. morning on inflation, recession woes

SEOUL, June 13 (Yonhap) -- Seoul shares traded sharply lower late Monday morning on concerns over high inflation and the U.S.' potential aggressive monetary tightening, which could affect global economic growth.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 73.32 points, or 2.82 percent, to 2,522.55 points as of 11:20 a.m.

After the opening bell, the market got off to a weak start and extended losses further, tracking a sharp fall on Wall Street on Friday, as the U.S. consumer prices for May rose 8.6 percent, the highest level since 1981.

Investors are also closely watching the Federal Reserve's two-day interest rate-setting meeting that starts on Tuesday (local time), as the higher-than-expected inflation growth has raised the possibility of a more aggressive step than a half percentage point rate hike.

In Seoul, losses were deep and wide across the board, with hard-hit tech and bio shares dragging down the index.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics lost 2.35 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix declined 3.57 percent.

Major battery maker LG Energy Solution shed 1.76 percent, and chemical giant LG Chem fell 3.26 percent.

Big-cap bio shares also tumbled, with Samsung Biologics falling 2.96 percent and Celltrion skidding 0.31 percent.

Hyundai Motor sank 5.42 percent, and its smaller affiliate Kia went down 3.52 percent.

Internet portal giant Naver also fell 4.07 percent, and platform operator Kakao retreated 3.87 percent.

The local currency changed hands at 1,286.95 won against the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m., sharply down 18.05 won from the previous session's close.

graceoh@yna.co.kr
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