Seoul stocks open sharply lower on U.S. tech slump

SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korean shares opened more than 3 percent lower Wednesday, tracking an overnight slump on Wall Street sparked by concerns of lofty stock market valuations and an artificial intelligence (AI) bubble.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 135.79 points, or 3.29 percent, to 3,985.59 in the first 15 minutes of trading, retreating back below the 4,000 mark a little over a week after reaching the milestone.
Overnight, major U.S. indexes closed lower as blue chip tech shares, such as Nvidia and Palantir, lost ground amid concerns surrounding an artificial intelligence (AI) bubble and remarks by Wall Street executives that the market may pull back for further development.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.53 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite shed 2.04 percent, and the S&P 500 went down 1.17 percent.
In Seoul, most big-cap stocks started weak.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics sank 4.29 percent, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix slid 4.78 percent.
Leading carmaker Hyundai Motor pulled back 3.26 percent, and defense giant Hanwha Aerospace contracted 3.96 percent.
Power plant builder Doosan Enerbility shot down 6.82 percent, and electric equipment provider Hyundai Electric plunged 5.23 percent.
Shipbuilders also lost ground, with HD Hyundai Heavy down 3.7 percent, Hanwha Ocean nose-diving 6 percent and HD Korea Shipbuilding falling 2.73 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,445.1 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., sliding 7.2 won from the previous session.

Sumber : yna.co.kr