The Korea Herald

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Seoul shares start tad lower on profit taking

By Yonhap

Published : May 17, 2024 - 09:31

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An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Friday. (Yonhap) An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Friday. (Yonhap)

South Korean stocks started a tad lower Friday following the previous day's rally amid hopes for a US rate cut.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 6.19 points, or 0.22 percent, to 2,746.81 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

On Wall Street, major stock indices closed lower Thursday after their record high on the previous day on data showing a slowdown in inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.26 percent.

In Seoul, most shares traded in mixed territory.

Major chipmaker SK hynix and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution stayed flat.

Top oil refinery SK Innovation declined 1 percent, and steel giant Posco Holdings fell 0.62 percent.

But top-cap Samsung Electronics rose 0.38 percent and major carmaker Kia climbed 0.09 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,352.25 won against the US dollar, down 7.25 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)