An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap)
An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap)

Seoul shares closed lower Thursday to extend their losses for a third consecutive session, as elevated oil prices stoked inflation worries. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.

After opening 0.07 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index turned lower to close down 177.97 points, or 2.62 percent, at 6,625.93.

This comes as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.66 percent overnight, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 0.22 percent.

Institutions and foreigners sold a net 1.67 trillion won ($1.24 billion) and 1.99 trillion won worth of stocks, respectively, while individuals bought a net 2.9 billion won.

Investors seemed wary as higher oil prices are adding to inflationary pressures, and the US Federal Reserve has signaled it may need to raise rates this year to tame inflation.

In Seoul, tech stocks led the decline.

Market behemoth Samsung Electronics fell 2.42 percent to 262,000 won, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix declined 2.44 percent to 1.68 million won.

Defense giant Hanwha Aerospace dropped 8.33 percent to 891,000 won, and shipping firm HMM shed 2.8 percent to 20,800 won.

Among gainers, battery maker Samsung SDI rose 1.25 percent to 569,000 won and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 2.56 percent to 401,000 won.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,338.5 won against the US dollar as of 3:30 p.m., compared to 1,340.4 won from the previous stock trading session's close. (Yonhap)