South Korea’s main bourse closed mildly lower on March 20 as investors took to the sidelines amid concerns over trade talks between the United States and China, and uncertainty over the upcoming Fed meeting, analysts said. The local currency gained ground against the greenback.

The benchmark Kospi was down 0.52 point, or 0.02 percent, to finish at 2,177.1. Trading volume was light at 313 million shares worth 4.1 trillion won ($3.60 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 532 to 281.

Foreigners offloaded a net 121.5 billion won worth of local shares, while retailers and institutions retailers picked up shares worth 86.5 billion won and 37.6 billion won, respectively.

The local finished at 1,130.00 won against the US dollar, up 0.20 won from the previous session.

By Ram Garikipati and newswires (ram@heraldcorp.com)