South Korean stocks turned lower after starting marginally higher Friday, as US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's remarks reaffirming the need for more interest rate hikes sapped investor appetite.

After starting a tad higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 1.68 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,592.02 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Powell reiterated on the second day of his two-day testimony before Congress that there is still a long way before the Fed stops its interest rate hike campaign, suggesting further rate hikes this year.

Wall Street ended mixed Thursday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq gained, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched down.

In Seoul, most large-cap shares fell across the board.

Biotech firm Samsung Biologics slid 0.13 percent, and leading chemicals producer LG Chem lost 0.8 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor shed 0.7 percent, and steel giant Posco Holdings was down 0.5 percent.

Tech heavyweight Samsung Electronics rose nearly 1 percent, echoing the solid tech gains on Wall Street after Amazon.com Inc. said it is spending $100 million to build a generative artificial intelligence program to provide more customized services for users.

Chipmaker SK Hynix also rose 0.3 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,300.1 won against the US dollar at 9:15 a.m., down 5.2 won from Thursday's close. (Yonhap)