Seoul shares opened lower Wednesday as investors await U.S. chipmaking giant Nvidia Corp.'s earnings results.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 5.0 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,510.74 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Overnight, Wall Street closed mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 0.51 percent but the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite inching up 0.06 percent.
Nvidia's earnings results will likely have broader implications for stock markets as the tech stock accounts for more than 3 percent of the S&P 500, analysts said.
In Seoul, large-cap stocks were mixed across the board.
No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. fell 1.1 percent, top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. declined 0.3 percent, national flag carrier Korean Air Co. shed 0.4 percent, and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution was down 0.7 percent.
Among gainers, market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. rose 0.2 percent, No. 2 wireless services provider KT Corp. climbed 0.5 percent, and state utility Korea Electric Power Corp. gained 0.1 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,338.65 won against the U.S. dollar at 9:15 a.m., down 3.15 won from the previous session's close.
Source: Yonhap News Agency