By Yeawon Choi
SEOUL, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Seoul shares fell on Monday
morning as foreign selling erased brief gains at the open, with
investors adopting a cautious stance ahead the outcome of the
U.S. Federal Reserve's rate-setting meeting later the week.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) .KS11 was
down 0.5 percent at 1,931.06 points as of 0218 GMT after rising
as much as 0.3 percent. Losers outnumbered winners by 17 to 10.
Analysts said trading was tentative as investors waited to
see whether the Fed will deliver its first interest rate
increase in almost a decade at its meeting this week.
Lee Jae-hoon, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities, said
that "uncertainty of the Fed's rate decision," following a
keenly anticipated meeting on Sept. 16-17 is keeping investors
on edge.
Persistent foreign selling in domestic equities - on track
for the 28th consecutive day of net sales - dragged down the
main board. In the last 27 days, they offloaded 5.37 trillion
won($4.55 billion) of KOSPI shares.
Market bellwether Hyundai Motor Co Ltd 005380.KS shed 1.3
percent, and Hyundai Mobis Co Ltd 012330.KS lost 1.2 percent.
E-Mart Co Ltd 139480.KS tumbled 4.2 percent after
announcing late on Friday its sales in August fell 6.1 percent
from the same period in 2014.
On the local currency market, the South Korean won gained
against the dollar as offshore traders adjusted positions ahead
of the Fed meeting.
The South Korean won KRW= KRW=KFTC was up 0.3 percent at
1,180.8 per dollar after touching a morning high of 1,177.4, the
strongest since Sept. 2.
September futures on three-year treasury bonds KTBc1 were
down 0.03 points at 109.61.
0218 GMT Prev close
Dollar/won 1,180.8 1,184.5
Yen/won 9.7975/8057 9.8043
*KTB futures 109.61 109.64
KOSPI 1,931.06 1,941.37
* Front-month futures on three-year treasury bonds