Seoul shares ended lower Thursday, bucking gains on Wall Street, as investors remain cautious on whether the US Federal Reserve will raise rates further to tame inflation. The South Korean won fell against the dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 8.01 points, or 0.31 percent, to close at 2,600.23. Trading volume was moderate at 362.59 million shares worth 9.3 trillion won ($7.3 billion), with gainers outpacing decliners 446 to 417.

Institutions sold a net 319 billion won worth of stocks, offsetting foreigners and individuals' stock purchases valued at 298 billion won.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.31 percent to 35,061.21 points, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.03 percent to 14,358.02.

Inflation appears to be easing and the chances of a recession seem to be receding, but investors remain concerned about the US central bank's additional rate hikes to rein in inflation, analysts said.

In Seoul, large-cap stocks ended mixed.

Market behemoth Samsung Electronics Co. fell 1 percent to 71,000 won, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. declined 0.5 percent to 116,900 won, top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. dropped 0.7 percent to 200,500 won, and Hanwha Ocean, formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., plunged 4.6 percent to 44,350 won.

Among gainers, the country's national flag carrier Korean Air Co. rose 3.1 percent to 26,250 won, leading refiner SK Innovation Co. gained 2.5 percent to 173,700 won, and No. 1 shipping firm HMM jumped 6.7 percent to 20,300 won.

The local currency ended at 1,269.90 won against the dollar, down 4.3 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)