Seoul shares decline, led by chipmakers after Nvidia’s earnings

SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Yonhap) — South Korean shares retreated late Thursday morning, led by chipmakers after an underwhelming earnings result by global artificial intelligence chip giant Nvidia.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 23.63 points, or 0.88 percent, to 2,666.2 as of 11:20 am

Overnight in the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.39 percent, with the S&P 500 losing 0.6 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 1.12 percent as well.

The Wall Street lost ground as Nvidia’s closely followed second-quarter earnings result failed to impress investors, despite having beaten market expectations.

In Seoul, Samsung Electronics and chip rival SK hynix plunged 3.14 percent and 6.08 percent, respectively.

Bio shares also fell, with Samsung Biologics dropping 1.92 percent and Celltrion down 0.5 percent.

In contrast, energy shares advanced. Leading refiner SK Innovation added 1.22 percent, and LG Chem soared 3.51 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,336.35 won against the US dollar, up 2.65 won from the previous session.

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