Seoul shares open lower, tracking Wall Street losses amid Middle East tensions

A screen at the dealing room in Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul shows the benchmark KOSPI and won-dollar exchange rate, Monday. Yonhap

Seoul shares opened lower Tuesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, as investors remained concerned about heightened uncertainty in the Middle East.

After opening down 0.56 percent, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 27.89 points, or 0.41 percent, to 6,779.04 as of 9:15 a.m.

The index nose-dived 9 percent the previous session amid renewed woes over the U.S.-Iran standoff.

Uncertainty over artificial intelligence (AI) sectors also prodded investors to unload tech heavyweights.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.26 percent to 52,498.64, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.55 percent to 25,873.18.

A standoff between the United States and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, along with a slump in SK hynix's U.S.-listed shares overnight, sapped investor sentiment.

On Monday, SK hynix and Samsung Electronics plunged 15.37 percent and 10.7 percent, respectively. The weakness extended to U.S. trading, with SK hynix's American depositary shares falling 9.3 percent overnight.

In Seoul, large-cap stocks were mixed.

Chip giant SK hynix fell 0.27 percent, defense firm Hanwha Aerospace plunged 6.7 percent, and top carmaker Hyundai Motor shed 3.9 percent.

LIG Defense and Aerospace declined 8.4 percent, and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution dropped 2.1 percent.

Among gainers, market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.2 percent, and shipping firm HMM climbed 3.07 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,497.30 won against the U.S. dollar, up 0.2 won from the previous session, as of 9:15 a.m.