Stocks finish lower as investors monitor rate hike hints

Stocks finished lower Wednesday as sound U.S. economic data saw investors raise concerns over the U.S. Federal Reserve resuming its monetary tightening measures. The won lost ground against the dollar.

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show the Kospi closing at 2,564.19 points on Wednesday, down 0.67 percent, or 17.20 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Stocks finished lower Wednesday as sound U.S. economic data saw investors raise concerns over the U.S. Federal Reserve resuming its monetary tightening measures. The won lost ground against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi slipped 17.20 points to finish at 2,564.19. Trading volume was moderate at 477.4 million shares worth 8.66 trillion won ($6.62 billion), with decliners outpacing gainers 502 to 366.

Foreigners unloaded a net 399.1 billion won worth of local equities. Individual investors scooped up a net 301.6 billion won, and institutions bought a net 56.2 billion won.

"The strong U.S. economic data alleviated recession worries, sending Wall Street higher, but they put downward pressure on our stock markets as they raise the likelihood of the Fed to go further in monetary tightening," said Choi Yoon-ah, an analyst at Shinhan Investment & Securities.

U.S. consumer confidence jumped unexpectedly to a near 18-month high in June. Orders of durable manufactured goods increased last month, and new home sales sharply rose to a more than one-year high in May.

Eyes are on what U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will say about the direction of the interest rate hike campaign in a speech at a forum in Portugal on Wednesday.

In Seoul, chemical and steel stocks drove the Kospi down.

LG Chem slumped 5.83 percent to 662,000 won, and Posco Holdings dipped 3.47 percent to 389,500 won.

SK Innovation fell 2.95 percent to 160,700 won.

Samsung Electronics gained 0.14 percent to 72,700 won, and SK hynix rose 1.15 percent to 114,300 won.

Financials also closed in the positive terrain. KB Financial climbed 1.26 percent to 48,150 won, and Hana Financial added 1 percent to 40,250 won.

The local currency ended at 1,307.30 won against the dollar, up 7.0 won from Tuesday's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year government bonds advanced 2.2 basis points to 3.559 percent, and the yield on benchmark 10-year government bonds upped 4.3 basis points to 3.765 percent.

BY SOHN DONG-JOO, YONHAP [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]