South Korean stocks opened steeply lower Friday as the US Federal Reserve chief signaled interest rates would be aggressively raised.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) retreated 29.17 points, or 1.07 percent, to trade at 2,699.04 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Stocks got off to a lackluster start, tracking overnight Wall Street losses. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite shed more than 2 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped some 1 percent.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has signaled the US central bank will have to move more aggressively to counter inflation.

Tech stocks led the overall market decline.

Market behemoth Samsung Electronics lost 1.18 percent, with No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix decreasing 1.33 percent.

Internet portal operator Naver moved down 2.91 percent, and top carmaker Hyundai Motor shed 0.82 percent. Bio heavyweight Samsung Biologics slid 0.62 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,241.75 won against the US dollar, down 2.75 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)