Shares open lower as Fed minutes show no sign of rate cuts

There have been expectations that the Fed is at the end of its hiking cycle, and rate cuts are due in the first half of 2024. But the Fed minutes showed that officials have no intention to ease the monetary policy.

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show stock and foreign exchange markets close on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

Shares opened lower Wednesday as the U.S. Federal Reserve warned against high inflation and U.S. AI chip leader Nvidia reported lower-than-expected earnings results.

The Kospi fell 13.92 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,496.50 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2 percent to 35,088.29, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 0.6 percent to 14,199.98.

There have been expectations that the Fed is at the end of its hiking cycle, and rate cuts are due in the first half of 2024. But the Fed minutes showed that officials have no intention to ease the monetary policy.

Nvidia was expected to release strong quarterly results due to growing demand for generative AI chips but missed shareholders' expectations.

In Seoul, most large-cap stocks declined.

Samsung Electronics fell 1 percent, SK hynix decreased 1.2 percent, Hyundai Motor dropped 1 percent, and LG Energy Solution shed 0.8 percent.

Among gainers, Korea Aerospace Industries rose 0.9 percent, Hanwha Ocean, formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, jumped 6.5 percent, and the state-run Korea Electric Power Corporation was up 0.3 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,295.55 won against the U.S. dollar, up 6.4 won from the previous session's close.

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