South Korean shares pull back from record high on profit-taking

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets: 

South Korean shares fell sharply after notching a record high on Tuesday, as the Iran war and its impact on domestic inflation triggered profit-taking.

The benchmark KOSPI was down 241.08 points, or 2.74%, at 8,547.30, as of 0200 GMT.

The KOSPI rose 1.7% in early trade to hit an all-time high before reversing its course to fall as much as 3.2%.

South Korea’s consumer inflation quickened in May to a more than two-year high, exceeding market expectations on high oil prices triggered by the Middle East conflict, supporting the case for monetary tightening as early as next month.

South Korean tech stocks swung sharply after a rally on Monday, as investors rotated between companies seen as beneficiaries of Nvidia’s push into robotics and physical AI and those facing profit-taking after recent rallies tied to the US chip giant.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang hosted top South Korean tech executives on Monday, as he looks to deepen ties with key partners ahead of what he called an “incredibly busy” stretch for the AI boom.

Chipmaker Samsung Electronics was up 0.3%, after rising as much as 6% to a record high, while peer SK Hynix lost 3.32%.

Hyundai Motor was down 5.7%, while e-commerce firm Naver dropped 7.4%. Home appliance maker LG Electronics slumped 7.6%.

“A rate hike is now taken for granted. Jensen Huang momentum is also weakening gradually,” said Kim Dae-jun, an analyst at Korea Investment Securities.

Of the total 924 traded issues, 116 shares advanced, while 796 declined. Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 3.6 trillion won ($2.37 billion).

The won was quoted at 1,516.8 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.26% lower than its previous close at 1,512.9.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 4.1 basis points to 3.828%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 0.7 basis point to 4.174%.‑Reuters