Seoul stocks opened lower Monday weighed down by declines in US tech shares amid concerns over massive investments in artificial intelligence .
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index was down 51 points, or 0.89 percent, to 5,679.74 as of 9:15 a.m.
Major stock indexes on Wall Street closed lower Friday (US time), following disappointing quarterly earnings from Intel and Amazon, which amplified growing concerns over the sustainability of AI spending.
The S&P500 fell 1.82 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 2.86 percent.
On the Middle East front, Iranian negotiators were in Doha on Sunday (local time) for a third consecutive day of talks with Qatari mediators to end the US-Iran war.
Investors are also closely following the US jobs report and the US midterm elections set to take place Tuesday.
In Seoul, most market top-caps were trading lower.
Chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK hynix fell 2.89 percent and 0.63 percent, respectively.
Battery maker LG Energy Solution retreated 0.76 percent, carmaker Hyundai Motor slid 0.18 percent, and financial firm KB Financial dipped 2.77 percent.
The Korean won was trading at 1,335.2 won against the US dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 0.9 won from the close of the previous session. (Yonhap)
