Seoul stocks open lower ahead of Fed meeting

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows stock and foreign exchange markets open on Monday. [NEWS1]

Seoul stocks opened lower Monday, as investors took to the sidelines ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting this week.

The benchmark Kospi retreated 10.32 points, or 0.42 percent, to 2,473.7 points in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Stocks got off to a weak start. The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed up 0.95 percent Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 finishing up 0.08 percent and 0.25 percent, respectively.

Signs of slowing U.S. inflation hikes fueled expectations of milder policy tightening at the Fed's rate-setting meeting.

In Seoul, Samsung Electronics lost 0.31 percent, and SK hynix fell 0.87 percent.

Battery maker LG Energy Solution declined 2.96 percent, with portal operator Naver decreasing 0.47 percent.

Auto maker Hyundai Motor added 0.69 percent, and bio firm Samsung Biologics increased 1.73 percent.

The local currency had been changing hands at 1,229.6 won against the dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 1.7 won from the previous session's close.

Yonhap