South Korean stocks opened slightly lower Tuesday as the main index keeps moving in a tight range ahead of the U.S. central bank's release of its July minutes, analysts said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) inched down 0.29 points, or 0.02 percent, to 1,917.35 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Steelmakers and telecom shares weighed down the KOSPI, with POSCO losing 0.6 percent and top mobile carrier SK Telecom sliding 0.7 percent.
Investors are all eyes and ears over what the latest transcript on the Fed's monetary policy says about the timing and scale of the $85 billion-a-month bond purchase program. The Fed is due to disclose the document on Thursday (Seoul time).
The local currency was trading at 1,120.30 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 4.7 won from Monday's close. (Yonhap News)
