Stocks open lower on U.S. losses

Stocks opened lower Friday following overnights losses in the U.S. markets. The benchmark Kospi lost 9.8 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,594.01 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show stock and foreign exchange markets close on Thursday. [YONHAP]

Stocks opened lower Friday following overnights losses in the U.S. markets.

The benchmark Kospi lost 9.8 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,594.01 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

U.S. stocks closed lower despite the stronger-than-expected economic growth in the second quarter. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.67 percent, snapping a 13-day winning streak, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.55 percent.

The U.S. economy grew 2.4 percent in the second quarter, up from 2 percent growth the previous quarter and higher than experts' estimate of around 2 percent.

In Seoul, Samsung Electronics fell 0.42 percent, and SK hynix remained unchanged following sharp gains in the previous session on hope for an industry turnaround.

But LG Energy Solution rose 1.3 percent, and Samsung SDI inched up 0.15 percent.

Posco Holdings went up 1.01 percent following a sharp fall in the previous session.

Carmakers opened higher, with Hyundai Motor rising 1.11 percent and Kia spiking 3.73 percent.

Among decliners, LG Chem tumbled 2.28 percent, and Posco Future M retreated 0.82 percent.

Samsung Biologics sank 1.52 percent, and Naver dived 1.89 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,282.70 won against the dollar at 9:15 a.m., up 5 won from the previous session's close.

BY SOHN DONG-JOO, YONHAP [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]