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Seoul shares snap 3-day rise on U.S. rate uncertainties

Published: 26 Aug. 2025, 16:50

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 3,179.36 points on Aug. 26, down 30.50 points, or 0.95 percent, from the previous trading session. [NEWS1]

Korean stocks slid nearly 1 percent on Tuesday to offset three straight sessions of gains as investors remained uncertain over the U.S. rate decision next month. The local currency sharply fell against the dollar.

The Kospi shed 30.5 points, or 0.95 percent, to close at 3,179.36.

Trade volume was moderate at 318.6 million shares worth 12.4 trillion won ($8.89 billion), with losers beating gainers 540 to 321.

Foreigners sold a net 682.1 billion won, while individuals bought a net 846.9 billion won. Institutions sold a net 263.8 billion won.

The decline came as investors cashed in profits from recent gains sparked by growing hopes of a U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut next month, amid looming concerns that the market has been overly optimistic.

Investors, however, were partially relieved that the overnight summit between President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump concluded without significant unforeseen events.

"Considering the summit was aimed at defending what we already have, rather than securing something new from the United States, the meeting was successful to some extent," Park Sang-hyun, an analyst at iM Securities, said.

Shares lost across the board, with top cap Samsung Electronics falling 1.68 percent to 70,300 won and Samsung SDI losing 0.23 percent to 221,000 won.

Shipbuilding shares also lost ground on profit taking, with Hanwha Ocean falling 6.18 percent to 107,800 won and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries decreasing 3.8 percent to 468,000 won.

Financial shares traded lower, with KB Financial falling 1.81 percent to 108,300 won and Shinhan Financial moving down 2.55 percent to 65,000 won.

Monami, a Korean stationery firm, jumped to a daily permissible limit of 2,575 won, up 29.92 percent, after Trump complimented Lee's pen during their summit. The pen's ink cartridge comes from Monami.

The local currency was quoted at 1,396.8 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., up 0.87 percent from the previous session's quote of 1,384.7 won.

Yonhap