Seoul shares open lower despite Wall Street gains

SEOUL, June 22 (Yonhap) -- Seoul shares opened lower Wednesday despite Wall Street's overnight rebound, as investor sentiment remained fragile amid bold monetary tightening in major economies and fears about a recession.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 8.71 points, or 0.36 percent, to 2,400.22 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Wall Street made a comeback overnight, following a brutal week in the wake of the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate hike of 0.75 percent, its steepest increase since 1994, to tame inflation.

On Tuesday (local time), the S&P 500 rose 2.45 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 2.15 percent. The Nasdaq Composite also gained 2.51 percent.

In Seoul, trading was mixed.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.51, and Hyundai Motor gained 0.58 percent.

No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix lost 1.05 percent, battery maker LG Energy Solution shed 0.35 percent and Samsung Biologics, the biotech arm of South Korea's Samsung Group, retreated 1.1 percent.

Leading chemical company LG Chem and Kakao, operator of South Korea's top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, declined 1.58 percent and 1.99 percent, respectively.

The local currency was trading at 1,293.20 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 0.40 won from the previous session's close.

jaeyeon.woo@yna.co.kr
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