Kospi closes lower Thursday to extend loss to 3rd day on rate hike woes

Stocks closed lower Thursday to extend losses to a third straight session as investor concerns over additional interest rate hikes deepened following a stronger-than-expected U.S. economic data released overnight. The won fell against the dollar.

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show the Kospi closing at 2,548.26 points on Thursday, down 0.59 percent, or 15.08 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Stocks closed lower Thursday to extend losses to a third straight session as investor concerns over additional interest rate hikes deepened following a stronger-than-expected U.S. economic data released overnight. The won fell against the dollar.

The Kospi fell 15.08 points, or 0.59 percent, to close at 2,548.26.

Trading volume was moderate at 370.56 million shares worth 8.04 trillion won ($6 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 696 to 186.

Overnight, all three major U.S. indices closed lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6 percent to 34,443.19, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 1.1 percent to 13,872.47 and S&P 500 lost 0.7 percent to 4,465.48.

The Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) U.S. services index for August stood at 54.4, the highest monthly reading since February. A reading above 50 means growth.

The ISM report supports the view that the Fed has one more rate hike left for the year, analysts said.

In Seoul, large-cap battery stocks drove the bourse down.

Samsung Electronics gained 0.6 percent to 70,400 won and SK hynix grew 0.3 percent to 118,500 won.

Among decliners, LG Energy Solution shed 1.9 percent to 517,000 won and Samsung SDI dropped 1.3 percent to 595,000 won. LG Chem slid 1.4 percent to 577,000 won.

Posco Holdings sank 2.1 percent to 568,000 won and Posco Future M plunged 5.8 percent to 412,500 won.

Samsung Biologics inched down 0.6 percent to 724,000 won and Celltrion decreased 0.3 percent to 146,400 won.

Auto and IT firms closed mixed. Hyundai Motor advanced 0.3 percent to 187,200 won, while Kia retreated 0.8 percent to 78,300 won.

Naver hiked 1.2 percent to 216,500 won, but Kakao slipped 0.6 percent to 48,750 won.

Hyundai AutoEver spiked 7.5 percent to 215,500 won on rosy outlooks for car software businesses.

The local currency ended at 1,335.4 won against the dollar, up 4.9 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year government bonds rose 9.2 basis points to 3.8 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. government bonds climbed 1.9 basis points to 4.3 percent.

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