![Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show the Kospi closing at 2,435.90 points on Wednesday, down 2.47 percent, or 61.69 points, from the previous trading session. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2024/01/17/b04fa5e1-60fe-4e90-95e4-c83547e8bbb1.jpg)
Shares plunged nearly 2.5 percent Wednesday on dampened hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve will start cutting its rates soon, and over uncertainties on the Chinese economy. The local currency sharply fell in value against the dollar.
The Kospi dropped 61.69 points, or 2.47 percent, to 2,435.90.
Trading volume was heavy at 950.6 million shares worth 11.01 trillion won ($8.2 billion), with losers far outpacing winners 850 to 70.
Foreigners and institutions dumped shares worth 902.1 billion won and 12 billion won, respectively, while individuals purchased a combined 852.2 billion won.
“After Fed Gov. Christopher Waller said there’s no need to rush to start lowering the rates, bets on the Fed’s early rate cuts cooled down,” Daishin Securities analyst Lee Kyoung-min said.
Citing CME FedWatch, Lee noted the probability of a rate freeze at the March FOMC meeting jumped to 35.1 percent from 19 percent.
The China factor also weighed on the market amid a continued slump in the housing market and weaker-than-expected retail sales there, Lee added.
In Seoul, most big-cap shares sank in unison.
Samsung Electronics fell 2.2 percent to 71,000 won and SK hynix lost 0.83 percent to 131,000 won.
LG Energy Solution declined 2.62 percent to 390,000 won, Samsung SDI plunged more than 4 percent to 379,000 won and Posco Future M shot down 4.94 percent to 288,500 won.
Hyundai Motor dropped 2.36 percent to 181,800 won and Kia retreated 2.12 percent to 87,900 won.
Posco Holdings and LG Chem also plummeted 4.23 percent and 5.44 percent to 419,000 won and 408,500 won, respectively.
Bio and IT shares also went south.
Samsung Biologics dipped 1.31 percent to 756,000 won, and Celltrion slid 5.07 percent to 178,000 won.
Among the few gainers, Ecopro Materials jumped 1.34 percent to 226,500 won.
The local currency ended at 1,344.20 won against the dollar, up 12.4 won from the previous session’s close.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year government bonds rose 4.5 points to 3.279 percent, and the return on the benchmark U.S. 10-year government bonds gained 12.3 points to 4.065 percent.
BY KIM JU-YEON, YONHAP [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]
