Kospi opens narrowly lower as investors await clues from Fed

Shares opened lower Wednesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street ahead of the Jackson Hole meeting later this week.

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi opening on Tuesday. [AP/YONHAP]

Shares opened lower Wednesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street ahead of the Jackson Hole meeting later this week.

The Kospi dropped 5.28 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,691.35 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, major U.S. indexes lost ground to take a breather from a recent rally, with AI chip giant Nvidia down more than 2 percent.

Investors' eyes are on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the upcoming Jackson Hole meeting to start on Thursday (U.S. time), which will give clues on the Fed's monetary policy direction.

In Seoul, Samsung Electronics and its chipmaking rival SK hynix retreated 0.89 percent and 3.46 percent, respectively, tracking Nvidia's slide.

Ship maker HD Hyundai Heavy Industries plunged 2.37 percent.

However, battery maker LG Energy Solution jumped 2.58 percent, and chemical producer LG Chem gained 1.37 percent.

Biopharmaceutical firms Samsung Biologics and Celltrion also increased 1.76 percent and 1.53 percent, respectively.

The local currency was trading at 1,329.9 won against the U.S. dollar, down 3.3 won from the previous session's close.

BY YOON SEUNG-JIN, YONHAP [yoon.seungjin@joongang.co.kr]