South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday after major blue chips finished bearish on Wall Street.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 8.84 points, or 0.33 percent, to 2,640.56 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the US stock market closed lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 1.04 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite losing 1.65 percent.

US tech giant Apple sharply lost ground amid reports that its sales in China dipped sharply over the first six weeks of 2024. Other blue chips, including AMD and Tesla, also ended lower.

In Seoul, top tech giant Samsung Electronics moved down 0.81 percent and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix lost 1.39 percent.

LG Chem dropped 0.44 percent, and leading oil refiner SK Innovation slid 0.68 percent.

Kumyang, which shot up more than 20 percent the previous day after the company announced the development of a new battery, gained 2.39 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,336.2 won against the US dollar, down 1.7 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)