Seoul stocks down on tech losses, inflation up in July

Seoul: Seoul shares turned lower late on Tuesday morning, reversing early gains as technology stocks declined amid lingering uncertainty over the Middle East, despite overnight gains on Wall Street.

After opening 1.5 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) traded down 11 points, or 0.18 percent, to 6,246.45 as of 11:20 am, reports Yonhap news agency.

The index plunged by more than 5 percent on Monday after a record 18-percent surge on Friday.

Overnight, U.S. stocks advanced as Amazon.com Inc.'s 4.5 percent gain following strong earnings helped lift companies benefiting from demand for artificial intelligence.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.32 percent to 53,178.41, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite climbed 2.13 percent to 25,913.90.

In Seoul, tech stocks led the decline. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 1.77 percent, and its industry rival SK hynix declined 2.55 percent.

Top carmaker Hyundai Motor dropped 2.67 percent and national flag carrier Korean Air declined 0.19 percent.

Among gainers, defence giant Hanwha Aerospace jumped 8.71 percent and Korea Aerospace Industries climbed 10.27 percent.

Meanwhile, inflation is expected to edge up in August from the previous month due to a base effect, while lingering Middle East tensions continue to fuel cost-push inflationary pressure, the central bank said on Tuesday.

"Consumer prices in July slowed as prices of petroleum and agricultural products fell," Deputy Gov. Lee Ji-ho said during a meeting to review inflation trends. "However, core inflation rose slightly due to higher prices of durable goods amid cost-push inflation."

"In August, inflation is projected to accelerate, driven by the base effect of large-scale discount programs offered by some mobile carriers last year," he added.

Earlier in the day, government data showed that the country's consumer prices rose 2.8 percent last month from a year earlier, falling below the 3 percent mark for the first time in three months.

The slowdown came as oil prices stabilised following a short-lived ceasefire in the Middle East, while government oil price caps also helped ease inflationary pressure.