Shares close flat as U.S. inflation cools

Shares closed almost unchanged as U.S. inflation showed signs of cooling. The local currency gained ground against the dollar.

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show the Kospi closing at 2,488.18 points on Thursday, up 0.06 percent, or 1.51 points, from the previous trading session. [NEWS1]

Shares closed nearly flat Thursday amid signs of cooling U.S. inflation. The local currency gained ground against the dollar.

The Kospi added 1.51 points, or 0.06 percent, to close at 2,488.18 after choppy trading.

The Kosdaq rose 1.75 points, or 0.22 percent, to close at 811.11.

Trade volume was slim at 401.6 million shares worth 6.61 trillion won ($5.09 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 546 to 311.

Foreigners purchased a net 458 billion won worth of local shares while institutions offloaded a net 62.4 billion won. Individual investors net sold 394.4 billion won worth of shares.

The Kospi opened a tad higher, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street following reports of a lower-than-expected U.S. producer price index in October, one day after the United States registered the slowest increase in consumer prices in the same month since 2021.

“The slowing of inflation, which has long provided the basis for tight monetary policy, helped reinforce beliefs that the U.S. Fed's rate hikes have, in fact, ended, creating upward momentum for the stock market,” said Hwang Joon-ho, an analyst at Sangsangin Investment & Securities.

Seoul shares closed mixed.

Samsung Electronics gained 0.83 percent to 72,800 won, while LG Energy Solution fell 1.99 percent to 442,500 won.

SK hynix fell 1.34 percent to 132,300 won, while Samsung SDI rose 1.45 percent to 455,000 won.

Hyundai Motor advanced 1.26 percent to 184,800 won, with Kia surging 3.68 percent to 84,500 won.

Naver fell 1.22 percent to 203,000 won, Kakao dropped 0.21 percent to 48,200 won and SK Telecom slipped 0.39 percent to 51,100 won.

Posco Holdings fell 1.48 percent to 467,000 won.

The local currency closed at 1,296.90 won per dollar, down 3.90 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds fell 3.4 points to 3.705 percent, and the return on the benchmark U.S. 10-year government bonds jumped 8.3 points to 4.526 percent.

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