South Korean stocks closed sharply lower Wednesday as battery shares plummeted amid forecasts that global demand for electric vehicles will slow down next year due to economic uncertainties. The local currency lost ground against the US dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 20.34 points, or 0.85 percent, to close at 2,363.17.

Trading volume was a little slim at 435 million shares worth 7.7 trillion won ($5.7 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 613 to 267.

Foreigners and institutions dumped local shares worth 342.4 billion won and 62.8 billion won, respectively, while retail investors bought a net 361 billion won worth of shares.

"The overall decline in shares tied to secondary batteries led to an overall slump as many negative factors for secondary battery and EV industries were seen, including Tesla's earning shock and a downward adjustment of General Motors' EV production target," Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities Co., said.

Overnight, Wall Street ended higher as investors' expectations grew ahead of the release of tech bluechips' earnings reports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.62 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 0.93 percent, and the S&P 500 increased 0.73 percent.

In Seoul, leading battery maker LG Energy Solution shot down 8.7 percent to 409,500 won after the company said its revenue growth will likely slow down next year due to global economic uncertainties.

Smaller rival Samsung SDI also plunged 7.19 percent to 445,500 won, and Posco Future M plummeted 10.16 percent to 274,000 won on weaker-than-expected third quarter earnings.

Steel giant Posco Holdings dropped 6.01 percent to 445,500 won, and leading chemical producer LG Chem declined 6.91 percent to 458,000 won.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics also lost 0.73 percent to 68,000 won, while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix gained 0.55 percent to 127,500 won.

Auto shares also ended in negative terrain, with Hyundai Motor down 0.44 percent to 182,000 won and its smaller affiliate Kia down 0.12 percent to 82,000 won.

Kakao, the operator of the country's top mobile messenger, shed 1.64 percent amid allegations the company's founder is implicated in a stock manipulation case.

But Internet portal operator Naver gained 1.12 percent to 189,100 won, and home appliances maker LG Electronics rose 3.24 percent to 108,500 won.

The local currency ended at 1,349.70 won against the greenback, down 6.6 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)