Kospi opens lower as chip stocks extend Seoul market losses

Korean stocks opened lower Thursday, dragged down by losses in chip-heavy stocks, following a three-day losing streak.

After opening 0.34 percent lower, the Kospi fell 26.3 points, or 0.38 percent, to 6,811.74 as of 9:15 a.m.

Overnight, Wall Street ended mixed as cooler-than-expected inflation data was offset by persistent pressure from elevated U.S. Treasury yields and rising oil prices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.86 percent, while the benchmark S&P 500 dipped 0.25 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.24 percent.

In Seoul, market heavyweights were mostly lower.

Samsung Electronics lost 0.28 percent, while SK hynix decreased 0.11 percent.

SK Square, the parent company of SK hynix, fell 2.81 percent, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, an electronics component affiliate of Samsung Electronics, fell 2.05 percent.

The local currency fell 3 won from the close of the previous stock trading session to trade at 1,358.7 against the greenback. 

Yonhap