Seoul stocks open lower on chip losses
The won-dollar exchange rate and the benchmark KOSPI indices are seen on an electronic board at Hana Bank's dealing room in central Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap
Korean stocks opened lower Thursday, dragged down by losses in chip-heavy stocks, following a three-day losing streak.
After opening 0.34 percent lower, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 26.3 points, or 0.38 percent, to 6,811.74 as of 9:15 a.m.
Overnight, Wall Street ended mixed as cooler-than-expected inflation data was offset by persistent pressure from elevated U.S. Treasury yields and rising oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.86 percent, while the benchmark S&P 500 dipped 0.25 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.24 percent.
In Seoul, market heavyweights were mostly lower.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics lost 0.28 percent, while chip giant SK hynix decreased 0.11 percent.
SK Square, the parent company of SK hynix, went down 2.81 percent, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, an electronics component affiliate of Samsung Electronics, shed 2.05 percent.
The Korean won was trading at 1,358.7 won against the U.S. dollar, down 3 won from the close of the previous stock trading session.