Seoul shares opened lower Wednesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, after robust US manufacturing activity spurred speculation that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for the time being.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 32.21 points, or 1.17 percent, to 2,720.95 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1 percent to 39,170.24 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 0.95 percent to 16,240.45.

In Seoul, large-cap stocks declined across the board.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. fell 0.7 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. declined 2.7 percent, top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. shed 0.7 percent and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. was down 2.9 percent.

Among gainers, the country's largest shipbuilding group, HD Hyundai, rose 0.4 percent on increased ship orders by its affiliates, leading shipping firm HMM climbed 2.1 percent and refiner S-Oil Corp. was up 0.5 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,348.85 won against the dollar, up 3.25 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)