Stocks close lower for third straight day amid ramyeon price cuts

Stocks lowered for a third straight day Thursday as investors digested U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments signaling more rate hikes. The won fell against the U.S. dollar. The Kospi sank 0.55 percent to close at 2,550.02.

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show the Kospi closing at 2,550.02 points on Thursday, down 0.55 percent, or 14.17 points, from the previous trading session. [NEWS1]

Stocks lowered for a third straight day Thursday as investors digested U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments signaling more rate hikes. The won fell against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Kospi sank 14.17 points, or 0.55 percent, to close at 2,550.02. Trading volume was moderate at 591.9 million shares worth 8.65 trillion won ($6.56 billion), with decliners far outnumbering gainers 737 to 161.

Foreigners bought a net 32.8 billion won, and individual investors scooped up a net 129.3 billion won. Institutions unloaded a net 180.4 billion won.

"Before the July [Federal Open Market Committee meeting], we're going to see constant volatility in the stock markets as the market deals with the uncertainty from the Fed policy," said Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities.

Powell reiterated that the Fed will further raise its interest rates this year, and one could be carried out at the next monetary policy meeting set for July, speaking at a European Central Bank forum in Portugal Wednesday.

Powell added it's likely inflation won't come down to near the Fed's target of 2 percent this year or next.

In Seoul, food staples dragged the Kospi down.

Nongshim shed 2.5 percent to 390,000 won following Tuesday's price cut announcement for some of its signature products.

Orion closed down 2.91 percent at 120,200 won, and Ottogi lost 2.88 percent to 388,500 won.

Large-cap tech stocks gained ground. LG Energy Solution rose 0.55 percent to 550,000 won, and Samsung SDI gained 1.22 percent to 665,000 won.

SK hynix advanced 1.66 percent to 116,200 won, but Samsung Electronics slipped 0.41 percent to 72,400 won after swerving in and out of positive territory.

The local currency ended at 1,317.6 won against the dollar, up 10.3 won from Wednesday's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds climbed 2.5 basis points to 3.584 percent, and the yield on benchmark 10-year government bonds dropped 5.4 basis points to 3.711 percent.

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