Seoul shares open lower on Wall Street losses

An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Friday. (Yonhap)

Seoul shares got off to a weak start Friday on overnight losses on Wall Street.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 23.81 points, or 0.84 percent, to 2,800.54 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, Wall Street shares tumbled as a weeklong decline in tech and chip stocks expanded to other blue chips. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite dropped 0.78 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 1.29 percent.

In Seoul, most blue chips traded in negative territory. Chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK hynix lost 1.5 percent and 0.47 percent, respectively.

Automotive stocks also extended their losses from the past few sessions. Hyundai Motor and Kia shed 1.54 percent and 1.84 percent, respectively.

Energy and financial shares also retreated. Leading refiner SK Innovation tumbled 2.76 percent, and Kookmin Financial fell 0.59 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,386.45 won against the US dollar at 9:15 a.m., down 4.75 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)