Seoul shares open lower on rate hike woes; Korean won sharply down

Seoul shares opened lower Monday amid lingering concerns over the US Federal Reserve's aggressive monetary tightening. The Korean won opened sharply lower against the US dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 33.72 points, or 1.35 percent, to trade at 2,458.97 points as of 9:15 a.m.

Investors have been wary of the Fed's policy path, as the minutes of its July meeting released last week showed that the US central bank would continue to push for aggressive monetary tightening to tame inflation, according to analysts.

The Fed raised its benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points last month for a second straight time.

Most large-cap stocks lost ground, with tech and bio shares dragging down the index.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics sank 1.48 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix tumbled 2.28 percent.

Leading car battery maker LG Energy Solution shed 0.89 percent, and top chemical firm LG Chem went down 0.47 percent.

Samsung Biologics, the biotech arm of South Korea's Samsung Group, decreased 1.38 percent, and pharmaceutical giant Celltrion lost 0.5 percent.

No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor fell 0.53 percent, and Kia remained flat.

SOCAR, South Korea's largest car-sharing platform operator, traded 1.43 percent higher on the day of its market debut.

The local currency was trading at 1,335.15 won against the US dollar, down 9.25 won from the previous session's close. It marked the lowest level in more than 13 years. (Yonhap)