South Korean shares opened lower Thursday, tracking overnight falls on Wall Street, as the US central bank hinted at faster rate hikes to curb inflation.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 18.66 points, or 0.68 percent, to reach 2,716.37 as of 9:15 a.m.

Overnight, the US stock market tumbled, after the Federal Reserve's minutes of its March meeting showed that the officials are considering raising rates by a half-percentage point, rather than the usual quarter-point, and they "generally" agreed on a massive balance sheet reduction as soon as next month.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.42 percent, and the Nasdaq composite sank 2.22 percent.

On the Seoul bourse, most big-cap shares traded lower, with tech and chemicals leading the fall.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 0.15 percent to nearly a 52-week low of 68,400 won though it expects its best first-quarter operating income in four years at 14.1 trillion won.

No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix sank 1.12 percent, and LG Chem tumbled 2.45 percent. Major battery maker LG Energy Solution lost 1.33 percent, and Samsung SDI went down 1.67 percent.

Internet portal operator Naver decreased 0.91 percent, and Kakao went down 2.38 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,218.90 won against the US dollar, down 0.6 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)