Seoul shares extend losses late Thursday morning amid inflation concerns

Seoul shares experienced a decline late Thursday morning, with the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) falling 1.28 percent to 6,961.23 as of 11:20 a.m. The drop was primarily driven by surging oil prices caused by tensions in the Middle East, which have sparked inflation concerns ahead of key U.S. inflation data. The selling pressure came from institutions and foreign investors, with a net outflow of 1.01 trillion won ($755 million) and 496.38 billion won worth of stocks, respectively.

Retail investors, however, bought stocks, netting a gain of 871.89 billion won. The decline in U.S. stocks, including the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, further exacerbated the situation. Tech stocks led the decline in Seoul, with Samsung Electronics and SK hynix among the top performers. Hyundai Motor was also significantly affected, with its stock dropping 1 percent.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.