South Korean and Tokyo stocks closed lower

On Wednesday, South Korean stocks fell by more than 2% below the 3,000-point threshold. This resulted from massive foreign selling, caused by concerns over a US bond yield climb. It drove the critical stock index down for the past few sessions. The Korean won dropped against the US dollar. 

On the other hand, Tokyo stocks closed even lower. Technology-related shares weighed on the market. They followed their US peers’ retreat on Wall Street overnight.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell 484.33 points, or 1.61%, from Monday to finish the day at 29,671.70.

Meanwhile, the broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped 35.28 points, or 1.82%, to close at 1,903.07.

Electrical appliance, precision instrument, and information and communication issues involved those that declined the most.

The increase in foreign sell-offs raised uncertainties

KOSPI, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index, slipped 75.11 points, or 2.45%, to close at 2,994.98 points.

Trading volume was moderate. The number of shares was about 1.5 billion, valued at 16.7 trillion won ($17.7 billion). Losers outnumbered gainers 835 to 57.

Foreigners sold a net 427 billion won. Meanwhile, retail investors purchased a net 560 billion won. Institutions offloaded a net 134 billion won.

Kiwoom Securities analyst Seo Sang-young stated that the increase in foreign sell-offs raised uncertainties. Optimism for a swift global economic recovery supported speculation for rate hikes. 

Even though Fed’s chairman Jerome Powell commented that the central bank would continue its fiscal policy support, foreign selling continued. 

Most of the large-cap stocks closed lower

In Seoul, most large caps settled lower.

Samsung Biologics, the top pharmaceutical firm, lost 1.71% to 747,000 won. Celltrion fell 4.73 % to 282,000 won.

The Internet portal giant Naver shrank 4.23% to 374,000 won, with its rival Kakao slipping 2.77% to 473,500 won.

Battery makers and automakers sank after Hyundai Motor said it would replace batteries in over 25,000 Kona electric vehicles due to battery cell defects.

Hyundai Motor, the country’s most significant automaker, dropped by 3.89% to 235,000 won.

LG Chem, the leading chemical maker whose batteries were used in Kona EVs, fell 2.82% to 860,000 won. On the other hand, the Samsung SDIrechargeable battery maker dropped 3.24% to 687,000 won.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics ended unchanged at 82,000 won, and No. 2 chipmaker SK Hynix dropped 1.81% to 136,000 won.

The local currency settled at 1,112.2 won against the dollar, down 1.6 won from the previous session’s close.