Stocks open lower after Wall Street drifts downward

Stocks opened lower Wednesday as large-cap stocks tracked Wall Street losses. The benchmark Kospi fell 12.05 points, or 0.45 percent, to 2,655.02 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 Tuesday. [YONHAP]

Stocks opened lower Wednesday as large-cap stocks tracked Wall Street losses.

The benchmark Kospi fell 12.05 points, or 0.45 percent, to 2,655.02 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Wall Street finished mixed Tuesday as investors took a breather from a monthslong rally ahead of earnings reports from major companies, including Apple and Amazon.com, and U.S. jobs data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite trimmed 0.43 percent, and the S&P 500 lost 0.27 percent.

In Seoul, most big-cap shares lost ground.

Samsung Electronics retreated 0.98 percent, and SK hynix fell more than 1.5 percent.

LG Energy Solution dipped 0.18 percent, and Samsung SDI went down 0.45 percent.

Auto shares also opened lower, with Hyundai Motor and Kia losing more than 0.8 percent.

Samsung Biologics lost 0.5 percent, Celltrion dipped 0.2 percent and Posco Holdings retreated 0.32 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,290.30 won against the dollar at 9:15 a.m., up 6.5 won from Tuesday's close.

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