Stocks trade little changed ahead of the Fed meeting

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,336.87 points on Wednesday, up 1.65 points, or 0.07 percent, from the previous trading day. [YONHAP]

Stocks ended nearly flat Wednesday as investors remain uncertain over the Fed's upcoming policy meeting. The local currency fell against the dollar.

The Kospi inched up 1.65 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,336.87.

Trading volume was moderate at 443.8 billion shares worth 9.4 trillion won ($6.6 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 461 to 394.

Institutional and retail investors were sellers, offloading a combined 521.6 billion won worth of equities. Foreigners scooped up a net 495.3 billion won.

"Chips and battery shares trimmed earlier gains and weighed down the Kospi," said Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daeshin Securities.

Investors are gearing up for the Fed's policy meeting results due this week amid uncertainties over whether it may open the door for a slower pace of rate increases.

"A slowdown may not lead to a market turnaround, as it only reinforces the fact that economic uncertainties loom ahead and will continue for some time," said Lee.

In Seoul, most large cap shares ended lower across the board.

Samsung Electronics dipped 0.67 percent to close at 59,600 won.

Battery maker Samsung SDI slid 4.61 percent to 725,000 won, and LG Chem retreated 3.31 percent to 672,000 won.

In contrast, portal operator Naver added 2.05 percent to 174,000 won, and messenger app operator Kakao climbed 3.16 percent to 52,300 won.

Shipbuilders also gained ground, with Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering climbing 0.81 percent to 75,000 won and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering adding 0.81 percent to 18,650 won. Samsung Heavy Industries also climbed 0.19 percent to 5,210 won.

The local currency closed at 1,417.4 won against the dollar, up 0.2 won compared with the previous session's close.

The Kosdaq fell 2.68 points, or 0.38 percent, to close at 697.37 points.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds increased 2.3 basis points to 4.107 percent, and the yield on 10-year government bonds dipped 2.1 basis points to 4.150 percent.

BY LIM JEONG-WON, YONHAP [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]