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

South Korean stocks started lower Tuesday despite overnight gains on Wall Street.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) opened slightly higher but lost 0.48 percent, or 12.09 points, to 2,523.84 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, major US indices closed higher after the previous week's big losses.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 1.16 percent.

In Seoul, market heavyweights led the weak opening.

Top-cap Samsung Electronics fell 1.33 percent, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix retreated 0.19 percent.

No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor dropped 1.09 percent, and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution sank 3.5 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,344.35 won against the US dollar, down 4.55 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)