SEOUL-- South Korean shares traded 0.85 percent lower late Monday morning as investors worried that the U.S. Federal Reserve's expected aggressive monetary tightening would cause a global economic recession. The Korean won traded sharply lower against the U.S. dollar.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index had fallen 21.07 points to 2,471.62 as of 11:20 a.m.
The index opened lower and had tumbled to as low as about 1.5 percent on renewed concerns over the Fed's monetary path.
The minutes of its July meeting released last week showed that the U.S. central bank would continue to push for aggressive monetary tightening to tame inflation.
Most large-cap stocks lost ground, with tech and bio shares dragging down the index.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics sank 1.31 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix tumbled 1.35 percent.
Leading car battery maker LG Energy Solution shed 0.56 percent, and Samsung SDI decreased 1.78 percent.
But top chemical firm LG Chem went up 0.62 percent.
Samsung Biologics, the biotech arm of South Korea's Samsung Group, fell 1.38 percent, while pharmaceutical giant Celltrion inched up 0.25 percent.
No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor dropped 0.53 percent, and top steelmaker POSCO Holdings retreated 1.57 percent.
Internet portal provider Naver also declined 1.01 percent to 262,000 won, with platform giant Kakao dipping 1.83 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,337.15 won against the U.S. dollar, down 11.25 won from the previous session's close. It marked the first time that the won has slid to the 1,330 level against the greenback since April 2009.
Source: Yonhap News Agency