South Korean stocks opened a tad lower Thursday, despite Wall Street gains, as investors await tariff talks with the United States.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 2.47 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,523.09 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
South Korea and the US were to hold tariff talks in Washington later in the day, after the Donald Trump administration put on hold the implementation of 25 percent reciprocal tariffs on South Korean imports for 90 days.
Overnight, US shares surged after Trump said his government is going to have "a fair deal with China," and Beijing may receive a new tariff rate in a few weeks, according to foreign media reports.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1.07 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite jumped 2.5 percent.
Top-cap shares opened mixed.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 0.18 percent, and chip giant SK hynix edged down 0.06 percent.
Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution opened unchanged, and No. 1 steelmaker POSCO Holdings shed 0.58 percent.
Leading biotech firm Samsung Biologics sank 2.35 percent, and major pharmaceutical Celltrion dipped 0.5 percent.
But carmakers opened higher. Top automaker Hyundai Motor rose 0.11 percent, and its sister affiliate Kia went up 0.44 percent.
Major defense firm Hanwha Aerospace rose 0.74 percent and leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy advanced 0.95 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,427.55 won against the US dollar at 9:15 a.m., down 6.95 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)
