Seoul shares extend gains late Wed. morning amid rate cut hopes

Seoul shares slightly extended gains late Wednesday morning as investors await the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy decision amid expectations that a rate cutting cycle may begin in the near future. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 5.73 points, or 0.21 percent, to 2,743.92 as of 11:20 a.m. Overnight, U.S. stocks closed mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5 percent to 40,743.33 points, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.3 percent to 17,147.42. The focus now shifts to the Fed's policy decision on Wednesday (U.S. time) and earnings results of big tech firms, such as Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., this week. With signs of cooling inflation, the U.S. central bank is widely expected to cut rates as early as in September. Institutions and individuals bought a combined 97.82 billion won (US$71 million) worth of stocks as of 11:20 a.m., offsetting foreigners' stock selling valued at 91.85 billion won. In Seoul, large-cap stocks were mixed across the board. Market behemoth Sam sung Electronics Co. rose 0.7 percent, cosmetics firm Amorepacific Corp. jumped 3.6 percent, leading refiner SK Innovation Co. gained 0.2 percent and discount store chain Emart Inc. was up 3 percent. Among decliners, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. fell 0.6 percent, battery maker Samsung SDI Co. declined 3.9 percent and leading auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis Co. shed 0.2 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,380.55 won against the U.S. dollar, up 4.75 won from the previous session. Source: Yonhap News Agency