Seoul shares open sharply lower on Wall Street losses

Seoul shares opened sharply lower Thursday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index 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. Market kingpin and tech giant Samsung Electronics dipped 1.46 percent, while the world's No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix plunged 5.08 percent. Battery makers also suffered heavy setbacks, with local leader LG Energy Solution retreating 1.87 percent and its local rival Samsung SDS dipping 0.60 percent. Top chemicals producer LG Chem lost 2.58 percent, while leading carmaker Hyundai Motor shed 1.35 percent, with its smaller affiliate Kia Motors dipping 0.51 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,384.80 won against the U.S. dollar, down 1. 00 won from the previous session's close. Source: Yonhap News Agency