South Korean stocks kicked off lower Tuesday as investors were cautious ahead of the US presidential election.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 18.47 points, or 0.71 percent, to 2,570.5 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, Wall Street closed lower as investors treaded water ahead of the US presidential election Tuesday (US time), where former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are neck and neck in the polls.

Investors' eyes are also on the two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting that opens Wednesday, where the Federal Reserve will decide whether to issue another rate cut.

In Seoul, most big-cap shares started in negative territory.

Tech behemoth Samsung Electronics slid 2.39 percent, while its chipmaking rival SK hynix jumped 2.06 percent.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution lost 1.41 percent, and its smaller rival Samsung SDI plunged 4.3 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor dropped 1.62 percent, with its sister Kia down 0.72 percent.

Major South Korean game maker NCSOFT also lost more than 3 percent following a disappointing earnings release the previous day.

Among the few gainers, bio giant Samsung Biologics increased 0.2 percent, and Korea Zinc, the world's largest smelter in the middle of a management control battle, soared 7 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,374.4 won against the US dollar, down 3.5 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)