South Korean stocks opened sharply lower Thursday, taking a cue from overnight drops on Wall Street.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 49.67 points, or 1.59 percent, to 3,072.89 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Foreign selling increased as the US Fed did not announce new measures to quicken the economic recovery.

Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite retreated 2.61 percent, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 closing down 2.05 percent and 2.57 percent, respectively.

Investors' profit-taking rush during the earnings report season also drove the KOSPI down.

In Seoul, top cap Samsung Electronics lost 1.29 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix dipped 3.11 percent.

Pharmaceutical giant Samsung Biologics dropped 2.83 percent, and Celltrion shed 0.61 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor declined 2.04 percent, and leading chemical company LG Chem moved down 1.19 percent.

Internet portal giant Naver inched up 0.29 percent, but its rival Kakao fell 1.18 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,112.85 won against the US dollar, down 8.45 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)