Korean Stocks Erase Early Loss as Election Impact Seen Fleeting

  • Kospi edges higher as foreign funds buy shares of chipmakers
  • Won weakens vs dollar as hot US inflation stokes risk aversion

The South Korean won dropped 0.7% against the dollar.

Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
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South Korean stocks wiped out early losses Thursday as investors said the impact of a setback for President Yoon Suk Yeol’s party in parliamentary elections will be short-lived.

The benchmark Kospi closed up less than 0.1%, erasing its earlier decline of as much as 1.6%, as chipmakers climbed. The won held losses against the dollar after dropping to a 17-month lowBloomberg Terminal, as stronger-than-expected US inflation data stoked broader risk aversion, strengthening the greenback and overshadowing the impact from the local elections.