South Korean Shares Drop on Profit-Taking
The benchmark KOSPI fell more than 2% to around 5,880 on Thursday, reversing the previous session’s sharp rally as investors took profits and losses in heavyweight stocks weighed on the index. LG Energy Solution (-8.34%), Hanwha Aerospace (-6.48%) and Samsung Electronics (-0.62%) led the declines, offsetting gains in SK Hynix (+3.83%) and SK Square (+3.26%). The selloff came despite the Federal Reserve holding its benchmark interest rate at 3.75—4.00% in a 10—2 vote, leaving the interest rate differential with South Korea at up to 1 percentage point. Meanwhile, investors awaited Samsung Electronics’ third-quarter earnings after the company forecast sales of 195 trillion won and operating profit of 107.4 trillion won, driven by robust demand for AI-related memory chips. Domestic sentiment offered some positive signals, with the Bank of Korea’s Composite Business Sentiment Index rising 5.1 points to 104.2 in October, its highest level since August 2022.
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The benchmark KOSPI fell more than 2% to around 5,880 on Thursday, reversing the previous session’s sharp rally as investors took profits and losses in heavyweight stocks weighed on the index. LG Energy Solution (-8.34%), Hanwha Aerospace (-6.48%) and Samsung Electronics (-0.62%) led the declines, offsetting gains in SK Hynix (+3.83%) and SK Square (+3.26%). The selloff came despite the Federal Reserve holding its benchmark interest rate at 3.75—4.00% in a 10—2 vote, leaving the interest rate differential with South Korea at up to 1 percentage point.
Meanwhile, investors awaited Samsung Electronics’ third-quarter earnings after the company forecast sales of 195 trillion won and operating profit of 107.4 trillion won, driven by robust demand for AI-related memory chips. Domestic sentiment offered some positive signals, with the Bank of Korea’s Composite Business Sentiment Index rising 5.1 points to 104.2 in October, its highest level since August 2022.