South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Wednesday, bucking losses on Wall Street, as the US Federal Reserve kicked off its two-day rate setting meeting.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 6.44 points, or 0.16 percent, to 4,149.99 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Overnight, major US stock indexes finished slightly lower, as investors anticipated that the Fed may take a hawkish tone even if it cuts rates in its policy meeting set to run through Thursday (local time).
Investors are pricing in an 87 percent chance the Fed will make a quarter percentage point rate cut, according to data from CME Group, which will bring the US key lending rate down to a range of 3.5 percent to 3.75 percent.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell, however, has hinted that Fed members remain divided on future rate cuts amid a stumbling job market and inflationary pressures.
Speaking at a press conference after the Fed's most recent meeting in October, Powell said a rate reduction was not a "foregone conclusion."
In Seoul, large cap shares opened mixed.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics inched up 0.18 percent, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix advanced 3 percent.
Top battery maker LG Energy Solution moved up 0.23 percent, but leading carmaker Hyundai Motor fell 2.28 percent, and defense giant Hanwha Aerospace declined 1.25 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,469.2 won against the greenback as of 9:15 a.m., up 3.1 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)
