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

South Korean stocks started lower Tuesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, led by a decline in tech shares due to profit-taking.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 21.49 points, or 0.53 percent, to 4,067.76 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Institutions were net sellers, offsetting net purchases by foreign and retail investors.

Overnight, US stocks fell as doubts over potential interest rate cuts persisted and investors awaited Nvidia's earnings and US jobs reports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.18 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite slipped 0.84 percent.

In Seoul, tech shares opened lower, weighing on the index after their marked increase in the previous session.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics opened unchanged, while chip giant SK hynix sank 2.81 percent.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution slid 1.19 percent, and nuclear power plant builder Doosan Enerbility lost 0.38 percent,

Automakers opened lower. Top automaker Hyundai Motor fell 0.74 percent, and its sister affiliate Kia went down 0.68 percent.

Leading financial group KB Financial retreated 0.79 percent, while internet portal operator Naver edged down 0.2 percent.

But shipbuilders gathered ground. Leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy advanced 2.16 percent, and its rival Hanwha Ocean rose 1.22 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,464.3 won against the greenback at 9:15 a.m., down 6.3 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)