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An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Wednesday. (Yonhap) |
South Korean shares opened lower Wednesday as institutional and foreign investors dumped shares on the ex-dividend date.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 17.81 points, or 0.59 percent, to 3,002.43 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Overnight, Wall Street showed mixed results amid persistent concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.26 percent to 36,398.21, but the tech-focused Nasdaq composite index fell 0.56 percent to 15,781.72.
In Seoul, financials and steel stocks led the overall decline.
Kakao Bank went down 0.66 percent, and Kakao Pay fell 0.83 percent. KB Financial Group also sank 3.17 percent.
Steelmaker Posco dived 2.82 percent, and tech giant Samsung Electronics decreased 0.5 percent.
But bio firms were in positive terrain, with Samsung Biologics advancing 1.12 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,187.30 won against the US dollar, up 0.70 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)
