An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Monday. (Yonhap)
An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Monday. (Yonhap)

South Korean stocks opened sharply lower Monday following reports that China-based Alibaba has developed a new artificial intelligence chip.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 27.98 points, or 0.88 percent, to 3,158.03 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

On Friday, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite closed 1.15 percent lower, following reports Alibaba has developed a new AI chip in China, which led to concerns over US tech players, such as Nvidia.

In Seoul, top tech giant Samsung Electronics plunged 2.3 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix slid 4.09 percent.

Battery maker LG Energy Solution decreased 0.14 percent, and Samsung SDI lost 1.69 percent.

Chemical shares opened bearish as well, with LG Chem losing 1.98 percent and SK Innovation declining 0.84 percent. Cosmetics maker AmorePacific lost 1.25 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,391.7 won against the US dollar at 9:15 a.m., down 1.6 from the previous session. (Yonhap)