Slowing EV demand drives down stocks sharply

Shares closed sharply lower Wednesday as battery shares plummeted amid forecasts that global demand for EVs will slow down next year due to economic uncertainties. The local currency lost ground against the dollar.

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show the Kospi closing at 2,363.17 points on Wednesday, down 0.85 percent, or 20.34 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Shares closed sharply lower Wednesday as battery shares plummeted amid forecasts that global demand for EVs will slow down next year due to economic uncertainties. The local currency lost ground against the dollar.

The Kospi shed 20.34 points, or 0.85 percent, to close at 2,363.17.

Trading volume was a little slim at 435 million shares worth 7.7 trillion won ($5.7 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 613 to 267.

Foreigners and institutions dumped local shares worth 342.4 billion won and 62.8 billion won, respectively, while retail investors bought a net 361 billion won worth of shares.

"The overall decline in shares tied to secondary batteries led to an overall slump as many negative factors for secondary battery and EV industries were seen, including Tesla's earning shock and a downward adjustment of General Motors' EV production target," Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities said.

Overnight, Wall Street ended higher as investors' expectations grew ahead of the release of tech bluechips' earnings reports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.62 percent and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.93 percent.

LG Energy Solution dropped 8.7 percent to 409,500 won after the company said its revenue growth will likely slow down next year due to global economic uncertainties.

Samsung SDI plunged 7.19 percent to 445,500 won and Posco Future M plummeted 10.16 percent to 274,000 won on weaker-than-expected third quarter earnings.

Samsung Electronics lost 0.73 percent to 68,000 won, while SK hynix gained 0.55 percent to 127,500 won.

Auto shares also ended in negative terrain, with Hyundai Motor down 0.44 percent to 182,000 won and Kia down 0.12 percent to 82,000 won.

Kakao shed 1.64 percent amid allegations the company's founder is implicated in a stock manipulation case.

But Naver gained 1.12 percent to 189,100 won and LG Electronics rose 3.24 percent to 108,500 won.

The local currency ended at 1,349.70 won against the dollar, up 6.6 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds rose 2.5 basic points to 4.03 percent, and the return on the benchmark U.S. 10-year government bond fell 2.3 basic points to 4.8 percent.

BY KIM JU-YEON, YONHAP [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]