South Korean shares traded sharply lower late Wednesday morning as institutions turned to massive selling after a buying streak that lasted four consecutive sessions.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 16.43 points to 2,025.74 as of 11:20 a.m.

Institutions were net sellers, offloading a net 156.8 billion won ($129.8 million), while foreigners dumped a net 23.8 billion won.

Retail investors scooped up a net 177.9 billion won.

Most large caps were in negative terrain. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics dropped 0.83 percent, while top automaker Hyundai Motor plunged 1.38 percent. State-run power company KEPCO tumbled 4.04 percent, with global steelmaker POSCO losing 0.97 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,207.55 won against the US dollar, up 0.05 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)