Seoul shares opened lower Wednesday as investors remain watchful ahead of US President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariff rollout.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 6.06 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,515.33 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Overnight, US stocks ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.03 percent to 41,989.96 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite up 0.87 percent to 17,449.89.
US President Donald Trump is set to launch so-called reciprocal tariffs on April 2, which will affect all of US trading partners.
In Seoul, large-cap stocks were mixed.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 0.51 percent, and top carmaker Hyundai Motor declined 1.11 percent.
Leading steelmaker Posco Holdings dropped 1.43 percent, and leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries shed 0.52 percent.
Among gainers, chip giant SK hynix rose 0.72 percent, and leading cosmetics firm Amorepacific was up 1.04 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,472.65 won against the US dollar at 9:15 a.m., down 0.75 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)
