Korean shares open lower on Wall Street losses

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street following a U.S rate hike.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 5.69 points, or 0.28 percent, to 2,031.18 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The decline followed overnight losses on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.60 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index declining 0.50 percent.

Bae Sung-young, a market analyst at Hyundai Securities Co., said "local stocks are undergoing a correction after the U.S.

Federal Reserve raised a key interest rate" by a quarter of a percentage point to a range of 0.5 percent to 0.75 percent.

He also said the local stock market lacks in any big upward momentum.

Also Thursday, the Bank of Korea is set to decide whether to raise its interest rate, with experts forecasting a freeze.

Most large-cap stocks were mixed across the board.

Naver, the top Internet portal operator, gained 0.64 percent and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. was up 0.33 percent.

Meanwhile, market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. fell 0.45 percent and top auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis Co. was down 1.05 percent

The local currency was trading at 1,181.95 won against the U.S. dollar, down 12.25 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)