Korean stocks began a tad lower Wednesday following overnight losses on Wall Street, analysts said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 3.23 points, or 0.17 percent, to 1,878.76 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Most shares traded in negative territory, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics falling 0.23 percent and leading shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries dropping 1.45 percent.
U.S. stocks retreated on Tuesday as investors await the Federal Reserve's monetary-policy decision later this week. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.49 percent and the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.21 percent in the last session of July.
The local currency was trading at 1,129.3 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 1.3 won from Tuesday's close. (Yonhap)