South Korean stocks end flat ahead of Fed meeting

[SEOUL] South Korean shares erased early gains to end little changed on Tuesday as investors moved to the sidelines ahead of a US Federal Reserve rate decision.

The Seoul stock market's main KOSPI ended down 0.91 points, or 0.04 per cent, at 2,092.69.

The index opened higher after US President Donald Trump said he expected to sign a significant part of the trade deal with China ahead of schedule.

The Fed is expected to cut rates for a third time in a row when it concludes its two-day meeting on Wednesday, with investors eyeing clues on the future path of the central bank's monetary policy.

Foreigners were net sellers of US$85.71 million worth of shares on the main board.

The KOSPI has risen 2.53 per cent so far this year, and gained 3.0 per cent in the previous 30 trading sessions.

The trading volume during the session in the KOSPI index was 350.61 million shares and, of the total traded issues of 899, the number of advancing shares was 391.

REUTERS