Shares open lower on recession fears

Electronic display boards at Hana Bank in central Seoul show stock and foreign exchange markets on Monday morning. [YONHAP]

Korean shares opened lower Monday on growing fears of a global economic slowdown over the Federal Reserve's monetary tightening to tame inflation.

The Kospi fell 11.29 points, or 0.48 percent, to 2,348.73 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

On Friday, U.S. shares ended lower as weak data on the real economy and the Fed's rate hikes stoked fears of the global economy facing a hard landing.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.85 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.97 percent.

Last week, the Fed raised its benchmark rate by 50 basis points, and indicated plans to raise the rate to a higher-than-expected level next year.

In Seoul, most blue chips lost ground, with hard-hit tech shares dragging down the index.

Samsung Electronics fell 0.34 percent, and LG Energy Solution shed 1.03 percent.

Samsung SDI sank 2.10 percent and LG Chem lost 1.09 percent.

In contrast, SK hynix rose 1.02 percent following deep losses in recent sessions.

Carmakers lost ground, with Hyundai Motor retreating 2.46 percent and its affiliate Kia falling 2.34 percent.

Major bio shares traded mixed, with Samsung Biologics decreasing 1.32 percent and Celltrion adding 0.56 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,306.65 won against the dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 1.25 won from the previous session's close.

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