FX.co ★ South Korean Shares Weaken on Wall Street Cues and Profit-Taking

The KOSPI index experienced a decline of 1.1%, settling at roughly 3,410 on Wednesday. This drop follows the record highs achieved in the prior session and mirrors losses seen on Wall Street overnight. Investor sentiment became more cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy decision. In the US, the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones indices all experienced declines during turbulent trading as the Federal Reserve commenced its two-day meeting. Markets are predominantly predicting a 25 basis point interest rate cut to address a weakening labor market. However, stronger-than-anticipated retail sales figures in the US for August have sparked fears that Chair Jerome Powell might adopt a more restrained approach, which has, in turn, dampened global risk appetite and affected Asian markets negatively. Within South Korea, the decline in the KOSPI was further exacerbated by profit-taking following consecutive sessions of record-setting levels. Notably, significant losses were observed in major tech stocks, with Samsung Electronics falling by 2% and SK Hynix dropping by 3.5%. Other major companies, including Hanwha Aerospace (-0.8%) and Doosan Enerbility (-3.2%), also experienced declines. Moreover, there was a shift in the local market as foreign investors became net sellers.