Kospi drops 1.3% as large cap stocks struggle

Shares opened sharply lower Thursday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street.

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,758.71 points on Wednesday, down 0.56 percent, or 15.58 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Shares opened sharply lower Thursday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street.

The benchmark Kospi lost 35.99 points, or 1.30 percent, to 2,722.72 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 1.25 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged 3.64 percent Wednesday (U.S. time) on worse-than-expected Q2 performances by major tech companies, including Tesla.

In Seoul, most large caps were in negative terrain.

Samsung Electronics dipped 1.46 percent, while chipmaker SK hynix plunged 5.08 percent.

Battery makers also suffered heavy setbacks, with LG Energy Solution retreating 1.87 percent and Samsung SDS dipping 0.60 percent.

LG Chem lost 2.58 percent, while Hyundai Motor shed 1.35 percent, with Kia Motors dipping 0.51 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,384.80 won against the dollar, up 1.00 won from the previous session's close.

BY CHO YONG-JUN, YONHAP [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]