Stocks open lower as sentiment remains cautious

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show stock and foreign exchange markets close on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Stocks opened lower Thursday as investors await the U.S. inflation announcement and the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate-setting meeting, both scheduled for next week.

The benchmark Kospi ticked down 11.02 points, or 0.42 percent, to 2,604.58 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, Wall Street closed mixed as the recent market rally, driven by an artificial intelligence boom, paused. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.27 percent, while the S&P 500 shed 0.38 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 1.29 percent.

Traders are on their toes ahead of the release of the U.S. Consumer Price Index report for May and the results of the Fed's two-day rate decision meeting, starting Tuesday.

Overnight, the Bank of Canada raised the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.75 percent amid stubbornly high inflation, and concerns are growing the Fed might follow suit.

In Seoul, large-cap issues fell across the board.

Samsung Electronics fell 0.85 percent, and SK hynix shed 0.83 percent.

Hyundai Motor declined 0.61 percent, and Kia fell 1.1 percent.

LG Energy Solution declined 1.16 percent, and Samsung SDI retreated 0.95 percent. LG Chem went down 0.54 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,306 won against the dollar at around 9:15 a.m., up 2.2 won from the previous session's close.

BY SOHN DONG-JOO, YONHAP [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]