Seoul shares open lower on US losses

South Korean stocks opened lower Friday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street amid lingering concerns over the Federal Reserve's monetary tightening policy.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 14.42 points, or 0.64 percent, to 2,223.44 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1.15 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite went down 0.68 percent, as investors await a jobs report for September due Friday (US time), which would affect the Fed's monetary tightening.

In Seoul, most big-cap shares traded lower, with tech shares under heavy downward pressure.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 1.24 percent, as it reported about a 32 percent on-year decline in its preliminary third-quarter operating profit.

Chip giant SK hynix shed 0.89 percent, and LG Chem went down 0.51 percent. Samsung SDI fell 0.85 percent.

Carmakers also opened lower, with top automaker Hyundai Motor sinking 1.69 percent and its affiliate Kia falling 1.96 percent.

But battery maker LG Energy Solutions advanced 1.52 percent.

Internet giant Naver skidded 0.6 percent, and Kakao, the operator of the popular mobile messenger Kakao Talk, sank 3.47 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,412.50 won against the US dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 10.1 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)