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)

South Korean shares opened lower Friday, tracking a slump in major US techs overnight.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 8.65 points, or 0.21 percent, to 4,078.24 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 1.57 percent and the S&P 500 shed 0.99 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.23 percent.

Major US tech firms, including Microsoft and Meta, fell amid woes over their financial burden on artificial intelligence investment. Nvidia also moved down 2 percent.

In Seoul, top tech giant Samsung Electronics fell 0.19 percent, and SK hynix shed 1.94 percent.

Battery makers lost ground as well, with LG Energy Solution falling 0.72 percent and Samsung SDI decreasing 0.46 percent.

The local currency was quoted at 1,427.9 won against the greenback as of 9:15 a.m., down 1.4 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)