Seoul shares open lower ahead of Fed meeting this week

Screens shows a morning trade session at Hana Bank in central Seoul on Monday. [YONHAP]

Korean stocks opened lower Monday as investors sat on the sidelines as the U.S. Federal Reserve is set to hold its monetary policy meeting later this week.

The benchmark Kospi fell 3.78 points, or 0.16 percent, to 2,299.03 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The Federal Reserve is set to hold its two-day meeting Tuesday and Wednesday (U.S. time), with investors focusing on whether Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will provide any hint on future monetary policy.

Tech giants traded mixed, with Samsung Electronics falling 0.59 percent, while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix added 1.43 percent.

Leading steelmaker Posco Holdings shed 0.71 percent, while Korea Zinc gained 1.82 percent.

Chemical firms were among the losers, with LG Chemical decreasing 0.46 percent and cosmetics maker AmorePacific moving down 0.77 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1355.00 won against the U.S. dollar at 9:15 a.m., up 0.9 won from the previous session's close.

BY PARK EUN-JEE, YONHAP [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]