SEOUL, - South Korean stocks traded 0.24 percent lower late Wednesday morning due to a slide in battery shares.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had shed 5.62 points to 2,377.89 as of 11:20 a.m.
Overnight, Wall Street ended higher as investors' expectations grew ahead of the release of tech bluechips' earnings reports.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.62 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 0.93 percent and the S&P 500 increased 0.73 percent.
In Seoul, battery shares led the decline.
Industry leader LG Energy Solution shot down 5.91 percent despite solid earnings in the third quarter.
Samsung SDI fell 4.9 percent and POSCO Future M plunged 6.23 percent on a weaker-than-expected quarterly performance.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics dipped 0.15 percent, while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix gained 0.63 percent.
Steel giant POSCO Holdings and leading chemical producer LG Chem also slid 4.64 percent and 3.35 percent, respectively.
IT stocks also went south, with internet portal operator Naver down 0.11 percent and Kakao, the operator of the country's top mobile messenger, down 0.76 percent due to executive risk.
But auto shares gained ground, with Hyundai Motor up 0.22 percent and its smaller affiliate Kia up 0.12 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,346.10 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., down 3 won from the previous session's close.
Source: Yonhap News Agency