Kospi opens more than 2% lower after losses on Wall Street

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

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi opening on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

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

The benchmark Kospi fell 60.72 points, or 2.28 percent, to 2,603.91 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1.51 percent to close at 40,936.93, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged 3.26 percent.

Tech firms, including Nvidia and Intel, led the decline as the lower-than-expected U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) spooked investors.

The U.S. reported that its PMI for August stood at 47.2, lower than the market expectation of 47.5.

In Seoul, most large caps were taking a heavy beating, with Samsung Electronics losing 2.21 percent, while SK hynix plunged 6.18 percent.

Battery maker LG Energy Solution dipped 1.82 percent, and Samsung SDS fell 2.51 percent.

Automaker Hyundai Motor retreated 2.11 percent, and its affiliate Kia Motors slipped 1.76 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,342.75 won against the dollar, up 1.35 won from the previous session.

BY YOON SEUNG-JIN, YONHAP [yoon.seungjin@joongang.co.kr]