Korean shares down 0.43% in late morning trade

South Korean stocks extended losses in late Wednesday morning as institutions dumped over 36 billion won ($32 million) worth of shares amid worries of a possible rate hike in the United States.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 8.87 points, or 0.43 percent, to 2,038.89 as of 11:20 a.m.

Retail investors also offloaded a net 1.2 billion won. But foreigners were net buyers of local stocks worth 15 billion won.

The decline followed overnight losses on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.45 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index decling 0.66 percent.

Large-cap stocks were mixed across the board. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. lost 0.19 percent. Auto parts giant Hyundai Mobis gained 0.39 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor was up 0.75 percent, while global chipmaker SK hynix lost 2.08 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,100.25 won against the U.S. dollar, down 8.05 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)