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Kospi opens lower amid extended woes over oil prices; won sharply down

Published: 12 Mar. 2026, 09:50

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi in the morning hours of March 12. [NEWS1]

Korean stocks started slightly lower Thursday amid escalating oil price fluctuations sparked by the lingering U.S.-Iran conflict and shipping disruptions at the key waterway in the Middle East.

The Korean won weakened sharply against the dollar.

The Kospi fell 39.38 points, or 0.7 percent, to 5,570.57 as of 9:15 a.m. The index edged up 1.4 percent Wednesday.

Overnight, investors sat on the sidelines on Wall Street despite major countries' decisions to release reserve oil amid concerns tensions at the Strait of Hormuz may last longer.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.61 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.08 percent, while the S&P 500 lost 0.08 percent.

In Seoul, top tech giant Samsung Electronics moved down 1.42 percent, and SK hynix slid 1.78 percent.

Pharmaceutical firms opened lower as well, with Samsung Biologics losing 1.93 percent and Celltrion falling 1.2 percent.

KB Financial lost 1.45 percent, and Samsung Life Insurance slipped 2.65 percent.

Hanwha Aerospace, on the other hand, advanced 2.48 percent.

The won weakened by 17.5 won from the previous session to trade at 1,484 against the dollar as of 9:15 a.m.

Yonhap