Seoul shares opened slightly lower Thursday, the first trading session of 2025, as investors remained on the sidelines amid the ongoing political turbulence surrounding the impeachment trial and investigation against President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 1.56 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,397.93 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
The stock market opened one hour later than usual at 10:00 a.m. due to the main bourse's trade opening event.
The South Korean financial market has been facing downside risks following Yoon's short-lived martial law declaration on Dec. 3, which led to the passage of an impeachment motion against him.
The state anti-corruption agency is likely to proceed with a warrant to detain Yoon for questioning as early as Thursday after a Seoul court granted the warrant in a criminal case over insurrection charges.
Chipmakers and bio shares led the overall losses, with market heavyweight Samsung Electronics down 1.13 percent and Celltrion falling 2.19 percent.
Steel and chemical shares also retreated. Top steelmaker POSCO Holdings lost 0.99 percent, and LG Chem slid 1.6 percent.
In contrast, automotive and financial shares advanced. Leading automaker Hyundai Motor gained 0.47 percent, while KB Financial jumped 1.81 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,468.70 won against the greenback at 10:15 a.m., up 0.60 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)
