Seoul shares extend losses late Thurs. morning amid inflation worries

Seoul shares continued their decline on Thursday morning, echoing Wall Street's drop, amid worries over rising inflation. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell by 54.22 points, or 0.8 percent, to 6,749.68 by 11:20 a.m. following its opening gain of 0.07 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.66 percent overnight, while the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite declined 0.22 percent.

Foreign investors sold stocks worth 666.37 billion won, while individuals bought 834.66 billion won worth of shares, but overall investor sentiment was cautious. Inflationary pressures from higher oil prices and the possibility of the U.S. Federal Reserve raising interest rates this year to combat inflation led to cautious investor behavior.

Leading the declines was Samsung Electronics with a 0.56 percent drop and Hyundai Motor with 3.05 percent decline. Hanwha Aerospace and shipping company HMM also saw significant decreases of 5.86 percent and 2.57 percent respectively. However, chip manufacturer SK hynix and battery producer Samsung SDI managed to gain, rising by 1.33 percent and 3.74 percent respectively.

At 11:20 a.m., the Korean won was trading at 1,337.35 per U.S. dollar, up 1.65 won from the previous trading session's close.