US Federal Reserve defies Trump with interest rate hike

Seoul stocks began the trading day on a positive note on Thursday, buoyed by advancements in the technology sector, despite the Federal Reserve's inaugural rate increase in over three years. The KOSPI index experienced a modest rise, climbing 6.49 points, or 0.1 percent, to 6,724.46, by 9:14 a.m. On the previous night, Wall Street's major indices faced a downturn following the Fed's decision to lift the base rate by a quarter point to a range of 3.75 percent to 4 percent, in an attempt to tackle inflationary pressures.

Analyst Han Ji-young from Kiwoom Securities indicated that local stocks are likely to experience some volatility as investors process the Fed's hawkish stance. Among the affected companies, Samsung Electronics saw a slight gain of 0.3 percent, while SK hynix declined by 0.8 percent. LG Energy Solutions declined 0.82 percent, whereas KB Financial rose by 1.47 percent, and Hanwha Aerospace experienced an increase of 1.14 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,374.3 per U.S. dollar, up 2.7 won from the previous trading session.