Stocks finish lower Wednesday as investors await FOMC minutes

Stocks ended lower Wednesday as investors await the release of June's Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes later in the week. The won rose against the dollar. The Kospi sank 14.31 points, or 0.55 percent, to close at 2,579.00.

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show the Kospi closing at 2,579.00 points on Wednesday, down 0.55 percent, or 14.31 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Stocks ended lower Wednesday as investors await the release of June's Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes later in the week. The won rose against the dollar.

After starting marginally higher, the Kospi sank 14.31 points, or 0.55 percent, to close at 2,579.00. Trading volume was moderate at 589.2 million shares worth 10.05 trillion won ($7.7 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 632 to 243.

Foreign and retail investors bought a net 581.8 billion won worth of stocks, while institutions sold off a total of 614.4 billion won.

Investors are paying close attention to the release of June's FOMC minutes later this week as there could be signs of additional rate hikes, according to analysts at Mirae Asset Securities.

In Seoul, large-cap tech and auto stocks drove the Kospi down.

Samsung Electronics plunged 1.37 percent to 72,000 won, and SK hynix lost 1.02 percent to 116,700 won.

LG Energy Solution dropped 0.35 percent to 567,000 won, and Samsung SDI shed 0.42 percent to 708,000 won.

Hyundai Motor sank 1.2 percent to 205,500 won, and Kia went down 0.9 percent to 88,100 won.

Financial firms closed in the red after financial regulators said they will facilitate more competition between commercial banks by bringing in new players.

KB Financial Group lost 1.34 percent to 47,750 won, Shinhan Financial Group slipped 1.03 percent to 33,750 won and Hana Financial Group shed 1.26 percent to 39,050 won.

In contrast, bio stocks gained ground.

Samsung Biologics advanced more than 1.2 percent to 755,000 won, and Celltrion jumped 1.8 percent to 152,600 won.

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering shot up 2.19 percent to 121,500 won following news it landed a 96.9-billion-won order to build a liquefied petroleum gas carrier for an Oceanian ship company.

The local currency ended at 1,298.60 won against the dollar, down 2.8 won from Tuesday's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year government bonds gained 0.6 basis points to 3.625 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bonds added 1.5 basis points to 3.856 percent.

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