South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 7.14 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,373.26 in the first 15 minutes of trading. 

Most large caps traded mixed, with market kingpin Samsung Electronics losing 1.72 percent and global chipmaker SK hynix shedding 2.78 percent.


In contrast, leading steelmaker POSCO gained 1.46 percent, and No. 1 automaker Hyundai Motor gained 2.13 percent.

US stocks declined Monday, with the Dow Jones industrial average dropping 0.2 percent and the broad-based S&P 500 decreasing 0.2 percent. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 0.9 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,135.2 won against the US dollar, down 3.4 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)