An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Wednesday. (Yonhap)
South Korean shares opened lower Wednesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) shed 12.28 points, or 0.44 percent, to 2,762.01 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 57.35 points, or 0.14 percent, to close at 40,358.09, with the Nasdaq slipping 10.22 points, or 0.06 percent, to 17,997.35.
In Seoul, large caps traded mixed.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics lost 1.67 percent, with No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix shedding 1.46 percent.
Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution dipped 0.77 percent, while its local rival Samsung SDS slipped 0.73 percent.
Top cosmetics firm Amorepacific surged 5.37 percent, while top flag carrier Korean Air advanced 0.95 percent.
Leading carmaker Hyundai Motor lost 0.38 percent, with its smaller affiliate Kia Motors retreating 1.0 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,387.30 won against the U.S. dollar, down 1.10 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)
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