Seoul shares opened lower Monday, after a mixed close on Wall Street, as investors remained cautious ahead of key US data and corporate earnings.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 6.68 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,777.58 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.04 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 fell 0.16 percent and 0.18 percent, respectively, as big-cap tech shares took a breather following a rally.

Investors are keeping a close eye on the US personal consumer expenditure data due later this week, which will give clues for the Federal Reserve's monetary policy direction.

Also, Micron Technology is scheduled to release its earnings for the March-May period.

In Seoul, tech behemoth Samsung Electronics was flat, while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix declined 2.56 percent.

Top carmaker Hyundai Motor pulled back 0.18 percent and its smaller affiliate Kia shed 0.23 percent.

Battery shares also started in negative territory, with industry leader LG Energy Solution down 0.15 percent and its smaller rival Samsung SDI down 1.8 percent.

On the other hand, steel giant Posco Holdings gained 0.55 percent, and leading chemical producer LG Chem rose 0.28 percent.

Home appliances maker LG Electronics jumped 2.12 percent, and major bio firm Celltrion advanced 1.02 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,390.70 won against the US dollar, down 2.4 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)