Seoul stocks opened lower Wednesday, taking a cue from overnight falls on Wall Street, as the US Federal Reserve is set to hold its interest-setting meeting.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 8.8 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,326.42 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
US stocks closed lower as a surprising rebound in US job opening data dashed investors' hopes the central bank may slow down the pace of rate hikes.
The S&P500 fell by 0.41 percent, the Dow Jones Index by 0.24 percent and the tech-heavy NASDAQ by 0.89 percent.
The data comes as investors wait for the Fed's policy meeting scheduled Wednesday.
In Seoul, most large cap shares started weak.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics inched down 0.83 percent, while rival chipmaker SK hynix added 0.12 percent.
Top carmaker Hyundai Motor dipped 1.52 percent, chemical firm LG Chem advanced 0.58 percent, and battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 0.89 percent.
The local currency was trading hands at 1,419.7 won against the greenback, down 2.5 won from the previous session's close, as of 9:15 a.m. (Yonhap)
