Seoul stocks open lower ahead of Fed's rate decision

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

Seoul shares opened lower Tuesday, tracking overnight falls on Wall Street, as investors remain cautious ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate decision this week.

The benchmark Kospi fell 7.01 points, or 0.29 percent, to 2,443.46 points in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8 percent to 33,717,09 points, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 2 percent to 11,393.81.

The Fed is widely expected to raise rates by a quarter percentage point to a new range of 4.5 percent to 4.75 percent on Wednesday, slowing the pace of its monetary tightening.

But investors are awaiting the Fed officials' comments on future policy directions to take a cue for their portfolios' reorganization.

In Seoul, tech, auto and chemical stocks were lead decliners.

Samsung Electronics fell 1 percent, chipmaker SK hynix declined 0.8 percent, carmaker Hyundai Motor dropped 1 percent, and car battery maker LG Energy Solution shed 0.2 percent.

Among gainers, national flag carrier Korean Air rose 0.6 percent, the country's sole aircraft manufacturer Korea Aerospace Industries climbed 1.8 percent, and refiner SK Innovation was up 0.8 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,230.8 won against the dollar, up 3.4 won from the previous session's close.

Yonhap