Seoul stocks sharply down late Tues. morning on tech slide

Officials work at a dealing room in Hana Bank in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

Korean stocks extended losses late Tuesday morning as big chip shares sharply lost ground, tracking an overnight slump in U.S. techs.

After opening 0.34 percent lower, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 389.16 points, or 4.27 percent, to 8,725.39 as of 11:20 a.m.

Overnight, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said a "very good foundation" had been established for negotiations toward a final agreement with Iran, while mediators also reported progress in the talks.

However, U.S. stocks closed mixed, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq declining 1.3 percent amid concerns about major technology companies.

In Seoul, blue-chip tech shares slid.

Semiconductor heavyweights SK hynix and Samsung Electronics shot down 5.34 percent and 4.95 percent, respectively.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics, an electronic components manufacturing affiliate of Samsung Electronics, fell 8.57 percent.

Automobile shares were also among the losers.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor went down 8.43 percent, and its smaller affiliate Kia declined 6.41 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1.533.7 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., up 3.3 won from the previous session.