An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap)
South Korean stocks opened sharply lower Thursday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, after a six-day streak of record gains in the local market.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index decreased 49.55 points, or 1.28 percent, to 3,834.13 in the first 15 minutes of choppy trading.
All three major US stock indexes extended their losses Wednesday after disappointing earnings reports. The S&P 500 sank 0.5 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 334 points, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.9 percent.
In Seoul, large-cap shares fell.
Chip giant Samsung Electronics went down 1.93 percent, and rival SK hynix lost 1.66 percent.
Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution decreased 1.43 percent, and top bio firm Samsung Biologics shed 0.77 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,433.45 won against the greenback as of 9:15 a.m., down 3.65 won from the previous session’s close. (Yonhap)