Stocks open lower on China fears after its property developer files for bankruptcy

Stocks opened lower Friday after China's property developer Evergrande Group filed for bankruptcy in the United States on Thursday. The benchmark Kospi shed 15.53 points, or 0.62 percent, to 2,504.32 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show stock and foreign exchange markets open on Friday. [NEWS1]

Stocks opened lower Friday after China's property developer Evergrande Group filed for bankruptcy in the United States on Thursday.

The benchmark Kospi shed 15.53 points, or 0.62 percent, to 2,504.32 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Investors were worried about the Chinese economy, as the Chinese real estate developer filed for bankruptcy after struggling with over $300 billion in liabilities, according to foreign media reports.

Eyes are also on the U.S. Federal Reserve's potential push for further rate hikes to curb inflation and the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield that has stayed near recent highs.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.84 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.17 percent.

In Seoul, most large-cap shares opened lower.

Samsung Electronics sank 1.05 percent, and LG Energy Solution lost 1.67 percent.

SK hynix retreated 0.7 percent, and Samsung SDI dropped 1.81 percent. LG Chem decreased by 1.2 percent.

But bio shares rose, with Samsung Biologics adding 0.91 percent and Celltrion spiking 8.7 percent. It announced a merger with its sales and marketing affiliate Celltrion Healthcare.

The local currency was trading at 1,337.190 won against the dollar at 9:15 a.m., down 4.1 won from the previous session's close.

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