Seoul shares open lower on U.S. tech losses

South Korean shares opened lower Tuesday, tracking an overnight tech slide on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 11.74 points, or 0.44 percent, to 2,686.27 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, major U.S. indexes closed mixed as the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.16 percent, while the S and P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 0.32 percent and 0.85 percent, respectively. Artificial intelligence chip giant Nvidia slid 2.25 percent ahead of its second-quarter earnings release due later this week, and other tech firms, including Micron and AMD, also lost ground. In Seoul, tech behemoth Samsung Electronics shed 0.39 percent and its chipmaking rival SK hynix decreased 1.56 percent. Top automaker Hyundai Motor lost 1.6 percent and its smaller affiliate Kia dropped 1.46 percent. Battery shares were mixed, with industry leader LG Energy Solution down 0.79 percent and its smaller rival Samsung SDI up 0.45 percent. Bio giant Samsung Biologics jumpe d 3.64 percent, and Celltrion advanced 1.22 percent. Leading chemical producer LG Chem also climbed 1.42 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,330.1 won against the U.S. dollar, down 3.3 won from the previous session's close. Source: Yonhap News Agency