Shares plunge to 10-month low on Fed concerns

Shares plunged over 2.7 percent to the lowest point in 10 months on Thursday amid renewed concerns over the possibility of a Fed rate hike.

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show the Kospi closing at 2,299.08 points on Thursday, down 2.71 percent, or 64.09 points, from the previous trading session. [NEWS1]

Shares plunged over 2.7 percent to the lowest point in 10 months on Thursday amid renewed concerns over the possibility of a Fed rate hike.

The local currency slid to a three-week low against the dollar.

The Kospi shed 64.06 points, or 2.71 percent, to close at 2,299.08, the lowest mark since Jan. 6, when the Kospi finished at 2,289.97.

Kospi's trading volume was moderate at 520 million shares worth 9 trillion won ($6.6 billion), with decliners far outnumbering gainers 833 to 79.

Foreigners dumped a net 478 billion won worth of local shares, while retail investors and institutions bought shares worth 320.8 billion won and 110.6 billion won, respectively.

Overnight, the S&P 500 tumbled 1.43 percent and the Nasdaq Composite shot down 2.43 percent, posting its largest drop this year, on Google's parent Alphabet's disappointing cloud figures and a rise in Treasury yields.

"Amid growing global macro uncertainties, foreign investors have continued their sell-off mode for three months, putting downward pressure on major sectors like semiconductors and batteries," Kim Seok-hwan, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities said. Kim noted that foreigners turned to net sellers of the chipmaking sector for the first time in 10 months.

In Seoul, most big-cap shares, in particular techs and battery stocks, went south.

Samsung Electronics lost 1.91 percent to 66,700 won and SK hynix tumbled 5.88 percent to 120,000 won.

Battery stocks continued to slump on the grim outlook.

LG Energy Solution dropped 2.44 percent to 399,500 won and Samsung SDI plunged 5.05 percent to 423,000 won on a forecast that the global demand for battery and electric vehicles will slow down next year.

Auto shares also lost ground, with Hyundai Motor down 1.37 percent to 179,500 won and Kia down 1.22 percent to 81,000 won.

Other tech stocks remained in negative terrain.

Naver declined 3.81 percent to 181,900 won and Kakao retreated 3.34 percent to 37,650 won amid Kakao's executives' involvement in a stock manipulation case.

The local currency ended at 1,360.00 won against the dollar, up 10.3 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year government bonds rose 6.6 points to 4.10 percent, and the return on the benchmark U.S. 10-year government bond increased 13.5 points to 4.96 percent.

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