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South Korean stocks traded lower on Monday as investors remained cautious ahead of third-quarter earnings reports from major chipmakers and the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision later this week. 

After opening 0.92 percent lower, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) extended its earlier losses to trade down 71.49 points, or 1.29 percent, to 5,478.81 as of 11:20 am, reports Yonhap news agency.

Investors are awaiting earnings reports from SK hynix on Wednesday and Samsung Electronics on Thursday for clues about the outlook for artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand and memory prices.

Investors are also keeping a close eye on the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting starting Tuesday (U.S. time), with the central bank widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged amid persistent inflationary pressures.

Market heavyweights fell across the board. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics shed 1.62 percent, while chip giant SK hynix inched up 0.08 percent.

Battery maker LG Energy Solution decreased 1.7 percent, while top automaker Hyundai Motor went down 2.88 percent.

Defence company LIG D&A tumbled 10.67 percent on news that South Korea's arms procurement agency is considering revoking the firm's defence contractor designation in a small drone project over bribery allegations.

The Korean won was trading at 1,323.0 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., up 3.2 won from the close of the previous session.

Meanwhile, global credit rating agencies have assigned ratings in line with South Korea's sovereign ratings to the state-run company tasked with implementing Seoul's $350 billion investment pledge to the United States, the firm said on Monday.

The Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Corporation (KUIC) said Moody's Ratings assigned it an Aa2 issuer rating with a stable outlook, while S&P Global Ratings assigned it long-term credit ratings of AA.

These were the company's first credit ratings since its launch earlier this year.