South Korean stocks fell more than 1 percent late Wednesday morning as most of the big-cap shares lost ground across the board amid investors' concerns over the U.S. economy.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had fallen 27.62 points, or 1.04 percent, to 2,639.45 as of 11:20 a.m.
Wall Street finished mixed Tuesday (U.S. time) as investors took a breather from a monthslong rally ahead of earnings reports from major companies, including Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., and U.S. jobs data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite trimmed 0.43 percent and the S&P 500 lost 0.27 percent.
Fitch Ratings downgraded the credit rating on the United States to AA+ from AAA, citing "repeated debt limit standoffs and last-minute resolutions," stoking investors' concerns.
In Seoul, most big-cap shares lost ground across the board.
Market behemoth Samsung Electronics retreated 1.13 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix sank 2.8 percent.
Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution dropped 1.62 percent and its smaller rival Samsung SDI went down more than 2.5 percent.
Steel giant POSCO Holdings plunged 3.7 percent and its battery component-making affiliate POSCO Future M lost 3.34 percent.
Top chemical producer LG Chem went down 1.22 percent.
Auto shares also traded in negative terrain, with both Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia losing more than 2 percent. Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Motor's auto parts affiliate, sank almost 3 percent.
Bio stocks also went down, with Samsung Biologics losing 1.37 percent and Celltrion dropping 1.06 percent.
IT shares were bearish, with internet portal operator Naver falling 1.5 percent and Kakao, the operator of popular mobile messenger KakaoTalk, dropping 2.73 percent.
Kakao Bank plunged 3.88 percent on profit taking despite a solid earnings report.
The local currency was trading at 1,291.10 won against the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m., down 7.3 won from Tuesday's close.
Source: Yonhap News Agency