Stocks finish lower on institutional profit taking

Stocks finished lower on profit-taking by institutional investors amid lingering woes on rate hikes. In the currency market, the won fell against the dollar. The benchmark Kospi fell 8.01 points, or 0.31 percent, to close at 2,600.23.

A currency trader passes by screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul showing the stock and foreign exchange market on Thursday. [AP/YONHAP]

Stocks finished lower on profit-taking by institutional investors amid lingering woes on rate hikes.

In the currency market, the won fell against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi fell 8.01 points, or 0.31 percent, to close at 2,600.23.

Trading volume was moderate at 362.59 million shares worth 9.3 trillion won ($7.3 billion), with gainers outpacing decliners 446 to 417.

Institutions sold a net 319 billion won worth of stocks, offsetting foreigners and individuals' stock purchases valued at 298 billion won.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.31 percent to 35,061.21 points, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.03 percent to 14,358.02.

Inflation appears to be easing and the chances of a recession seem to be receding, but investors still worry about the U.S. central bank's additional rate hikes to rein in inflation, analysts said.

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

Samsung Electronics fell 1 percent to 71,000 won, and SK hynix declined 0.5 percent to 116,900 won.

LG Energy Solution shed 0.71 percent to 556,000 won, and Samsung SDI sank 1.44 percent to 685,000 won.

Samsung Biologics lost 0.54 percent to 737,000 won, and LG Chem dropped 0.29 percent to 685,000 won.

Hyundai Motor was down 0.74 percent to 200,500 won, and Kia slipped 1.98 percent to 84,300 won.

Naver remained flat at 204,500 won, while Kakao climbed 0.2 percent to 50,500 won.

Among gainers, SK Innovation grew 2.48 percent to 173,700 won, HMM spiked 6.73 percent to 20,300 won and Korean Air Lines surged 3.14 percent to 26,250 won.

Financial firms also rose, with KB Financial Group climbing 0.1 percent to 48,200 won, Shinhan Financial Group rising 0.75 percent to 33,800 won and Hana Financial Group jumping 0.52 percent to 38,950 won.

The local currency ended at 1,269.90 won against the dollar, up 4.3 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds advanced 3.8 basis points to 3.580 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bonds dipped 3.6 basis points to 3.752 percent.

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