Airline shares take off, but battery makers slide

Screens in Hana Bank’s trading room in central Seoul show the Kospi closing at 2,469.85 points on Friday, down 0.74 percent, or 18.33 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

 
Shares closed lower on Friday, ending their three-day winning streak amid speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve may end its aggressive rate hike campaign on eased inflation woes. The local currency closed unchanged against the dollar.
 
The Kospi fell 18.33 points, or 0.74 percent, to close at 2,469.85.
 
Trade volume was slim at 382.7 million shares worth 7.9 trillion won ($6.13 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 614 to 269.
 
Foreigners sold a net 80.3 billion won worth of local shares, while institutions scooped up a net 293.2 billion won. Individual investors sold a net 241.2 billion won worth of shares.
 
Local shares kicked off weaker as investors sat on the sidelines amid speculation that the U.S. economy is cooling.
 
Data showed that the unemployment benefit claims in the world’s largest economy have reached their highest level in three months. U.S. industrial output also shed 0.6 percent on-month in October.
 
“Battery makers traded down following losses from Tesla, with foreigners offloading tech shares as well,” said Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities.
 
In Seoul, Samsung Electronics fell 0.41 percent to 72,500 won, and SK hynix dropped 1.81 percent to 129,900 won.
 
LG Energy Solution lost 2.37 percent to 432,000 won, and Samsung SDI slid 2.42 percent to 444,000 won.
 
Amid the decrease in global oil prices, SK Innovation lost 1.95 percent to 136,100 won, and S-Oil dropped 1.74 percent to 67,800 won.
 
On a more positive note, Korean Air shot up 2.73 percent to 22,550 won on the back of lower oil prices, with Jeju Air also advancing 10.44 percent to 11,950 won.

 
The local currency closed at 1,296.90 won per dollar, unchanged from the previous session’s close.
 
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year government bonds fell 2.2 points to 3.683 percent, and the return on the benchmark U.S. 10-year government bonds dropped 9.2 points to 4.435 percent. 

BY KIM JU-YEON, YONHAP [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]