SEOUL: South Korean shares and the won slipped early on Friday, pulled lower by Wall Street’s decline overnight as commodity prices dropped, while comments by various US Federal Reserve officials suggested that an interest rate hike in December is increasingly likely.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was down 1.0 per cent at 1,974.16 points as of 0227 GMT, hitting its lowest intraday level since October 5. Losers outnumbered gainers by 38-to-10.
The South Korean won was quoted down 0.3 per cent at 1,161.8 against the dollar, touching 1,162.0, its weakest level since October 7.
Fed officials lined up behind a likely December interest rate hike with one key central banker saying the risk of waiting too long was now roughly in balance, with the risk of moving too soon to normalize rates after seven years at near zero.
