An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Friday. (Yonhap)
An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Friday. (Yonhap)

Seoul shares opened lower Friday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, with concerns over US trade tariffs weighing on investor sentiment.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 6.74 points, or 0.25 percent, to 2,647.32 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.01 percent to 44,176.65 points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite declined 0.47 percent to 19,962.36.

The US government plans to announce fresh tariffs on cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals over the next month or sooner.

It already imposed a 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports, escalating worries over a global trade war.

In Seoul, tech and shipbuilding stocks led declines.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 1.2 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix declined 1.65 percent.

Leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries shed 3.6 percent, and Hanwha Ocean shed 3.7 percent.

Among gainers, top carmaker Hyundai Motor rose 1.23 percent and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution gained 0.13 percent.

LG Chem advanced 1.22 percent, and national flag carrier Korean Air was up 0.82 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,434.10 won against the dollar at 9:15 a.m., up 3.8 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)