Kospi dips 0.04% as investors take breather in wake of U.S. rate hike

Stocks closed almost flat Thursday, paring earlier gains as investors digest the U.S. Federal Reserve's first rate hike in over three years.

After opening higher, the benchmark Kospi closed down 2.56 points, or 0.04 percent, to 6,715.41.

The index continued choppy trading throughout the day as investors sat on the sidelines after the Fed decided to raise the country's base rate by a quarter of a percentage point.

"But the impact of the decision on the market was limited as it was a widely expected one. Investor sentiment remained relatively mild as a recent rise in oil prices appears to have slowed down," Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, said.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters that the United States and Iran are "hopefully towards the end of the war," and he had heard "directly" from Tehran without elaborating.

Brent crude futures, the international oil benchmark, fell nearly 3 percent Thursday to around $105 per barrel.

Trade volume was light at 197.2 million shares worth 15.5 trillion won ($11.2 billion). Winners outnumbered losers 450 to 398.

Foreign investors were net sellers, offloading 2.27 trillion won. Retail and institutional investors snapped up a combined net 572.48 billion won.

Semiconductors lost ground, while defense and shippers were among the winners.

Top-cap Samsung Electronics shed 0.39 percent to 252,500 won, and rival SK hynix declined 0.8 percent to 1,745,000 won.

Defense giant Hanwha Aerospace rose 3.98 percent to 1,097,000 won, and shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries jumped 6.58 percent to 469,500 won.

The won weakened by 13.6 won from the previous session to trade at 1,382.2 won against the dollar as of 3:30 p.m. 

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year Treasurys rose 1 basis point to 4.063 percent, while the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds fell 2.6 basis points to 4.262 percent.

Yonhap