Tech and battery stocks drag Kospi down

Kospi shares closed lower as investors reduced expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut rates next year. Tech and battery stocks weighed on the index, while shipbuilders and auto shares saw mixed movement.

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show the Kospi closing at 2,494.28 points on Tuesday, down 0.82 percent, or 20.67 points, from the previous trading session. [NEWS1]

Shares ended lower Tuesday as investors dialed back expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will start cutting its rates next year. The local currency fell in value against the dollar.

The Kospi lost 20.67 points, or 0.82 percent, to close at 2,494.28.

Trade volume was moderate at 416.4 million shares worth 8.1 trillion won ($6.2 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 515 to 357.

Institutions dumped a combined 170.9 billion won worth of shares, while individual and foreign investors bought shares worth 146.7 billion won and 29.2 billion won, respectively.

“Overnight, U.S. bond yields and the dollar rebounded on market sentiment that the Fed's rate-cut hopes, which were momentum that had driven up the stock markets, were too excessive,” said Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities.

On Monday, the S&P 500 gave back 0.54 percent after hitting its highest level in over a year the previous session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.11 percent, and the Nasdaq composite lost 0.84 percent.

In Seoul, tech and battery stocks dragged the Kospi down.

Samsung Electronics lost 1.93 percent to 71,200 won, and SK hynix plunged 3.97 percent to 125,900 won.

Posco Holdings shot down 3.05 percent to 460,500 won, and Posco Future M slid 7.18 percent to 323,000 won.

LG Energy Solution stayed flat at 430,000 won, while Samsung SDI gained 1.02 percent to 444,000 won.

Major shipbuilders went south following news that Korea fell to second place in new global shipbuilding orders in November.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries retreated by 1.49 percent to 131,800 won, HMM sank 4.17 percent to 16,080 won, and Hanwha Ocean dropped 4.45 percent to 25,750 won.

Auto shares were mixed. Hyundai Motor went down 0.11 percent to 181,400 won while Kia remained flat at 84,100 won.

The local currency ended at 1,311.20 won against the dollar, up 7.20 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds fell 4.3 points to 3.486 percent, and the return on the benchmark U.S. 10-year government bonds rose 5.8 points to 4.257 percent.

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