Stocks close lower as major players struggle

Stocks finished lower Wednesday as major stocks lost ground on investors pocketing profits from gains in the previous three trading sessions. The won rose against the dollar.

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show the Kospi closing at 2,592.36 points on Wednesday, down 1.67 percent, or 44.10 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Stocks finished lower Wednesday as major stocks lost ground on investors pocketing profits from gains in the previous three trading sessions. The won rose against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi fell 44.10 points, or 1.67 percent, to close at 2,592.36. Trading volume was heavy at 825.02 million shares worth 36.01 trillion won ($28.23 billion), with losers far outpacing gainers 871 to 50.

Offshore and institutional investors shed a net 945.96 billion won and 67.51 billion won worth of shares, respectively, while individuals bought a net 995.47 billion won worth of shares.

"Investors want to check the Federal Reserve's monetary policy direction and its economic outlook," Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities said.

The Fed began a two-day rate-setting meeting on Tuesday, where the U.S. central bank is largely expected to raise the key rate by 0.25 percentage points.

In Seoul, most large-cap stocks ended lower.

Samsung Electronics fell 0.29 percent to 69,800 won, and LG Energy Solution dropped 2.36 percent to 580,000 won.

SK hynix fell 0.35 percent to 113,000 won after reporting second-quarter losses on sagging demand.

Posco shares lost ground following recent sharp gains. Posco Holdings skidded 4.26 percent to 630,000 won, and Posco Future M plunged 6.35 percent to 560,000 won.

Hyundai Motor retreated 0.9 percent to 198,700 won after it reported a record-high quarterly operating profit on the back of the popularity of its high-end models, and Kia dived 2.36 percent to 82,600 won.

Samsung Biologics decreased 1.09 percent to 727,000 won, Naver lost 1.64 percent to 197,700 won and Kakao sank 2.15 percent to 47,800 won.

The local currency ended at 1,274.5 won against the dollar, down 0.9 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds dropped 2.0 basis points to 3.626 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bonds climbed 2.1 basis points to 3.889 percent.

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