South Korean stocks opened lower Friday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 5.48 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,290.89 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The decline followed overnight losses on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.11 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index declining 0.22 percent.

Most large-cap stocks were mixed across the board.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. gained 1.01 percent, and the state-run utility firm Korea Electric Power Corp. was up 0.93 percent.

Meanwhile, SK hynix, a major chipmaker, fell 0.53 percent, and top automaker Hyundai Motor dropped 1.27 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,124.90 won against the US dollar, up 3.00 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)