South Korean shares opened sharply lower Wednesday, taking a cue from a drop in tech stocks on Wall Street.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 27.2 points, or 1.13 percent, to 2,374.71 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Investor sentiment worsened as key US stock indexes tumbled, with tech shares in particular falling deep.

The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite plummeted 465.44 points, or 4.11 percent, to 10,847.69 on Tuesday (New York time). The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.25 percent, with the S&P 500 down 2.78 percent.

In Seoul, most large caps traded lower.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics lost 1.19 percent, with No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix down 1.76 percent.

Top pharmaceutical firm Samsung Biologics fell 1.03 percent, and Celltrion shed 0.79 percent.

Internet portal giant Naver retreated 1.93 percent, with its rival Kakao dipping 1.54 percent.

Leading chemical maker LG Chem retreated 1.27 percent, and rechargeable battery maker Samsung SDI dropped 1.38 percent.

Hyundai Motor, the country's largest automaker, advanced 0.6 percent, while top steelmaker POSCO retreated 1.07 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,190.9 won against the US dollar, down 4.5 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)