[THE INVESTOR] South Korean stock losses continued in the late morning on Aug. 17, as institutions shed over 36 billion won (US$32.7 million) in shares amid concerns on a possible rate hike for the United States.

The benchmark KOSPI lost 8.87 points, or 0.43 percent, to sit at 2,038.89 as of 11:20 a.m.

Retail investors also off-loaded a net 1.2 billion won. But foreigners were net buyers of local stocks to the tune of 15 billion won.

The decline followed overnight losses on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.45 percent, with the tech-heavy NASDAQ composite index declining 0.66 percent.

Large-cap stocks were mixed across the board. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics lost 0.19 percent. Auto parts giant Hyundai Mobis gained 0.39 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor was up 0.75 percent, while global chipmaker SK hynix lost 2.08 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,100.25 won against the US dollar, down 8.05 won from the previous session’s close.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)