Seoul stocks retreated to an over two-year low Friday amid the spreading recession fears. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 15.44 points, or 0.71 percent, to close at 2,155.49.

The Friday figure is the lowest closing since the 2,150.25 points on July 10, 2020.

Trading volume was moderate at about 933 million shares worth some 7.8 trillion won ($5.4 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 561 to 321.

Institutions bought a net 109 billion won, and foreigners purchased 163 billion won, while retail investors offloaded 281 billion won.

The KOSPI opened lower after overnight losses on Wall Street that stemmed from growing recession fears.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.54 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite retreated 2.84 percent. The S&P500 lost 2.11 percent.

The KOSPI's fall was led by losses in auto and chemicals.

Battery maker LG Energy Solutions dipped 3.07 percent to 426,500 won, top automaker Hyundai Motor lost 2.75 percent to 5,000 won, and its affiliate Kia also decreased 3.49 percent to 71,900 won.

Chemical giant LG Chem retreated 2.01 percent to 536,000 won, and bio heavyweight Samsung Bio declined 0.74 percent to 807,000 won.

The KOSPI's top cap, Samsung Electronics, increased 0.95 percent to 53,100 won, with chip giant SK hynix adding 2.85 percent to 83,100 won.

The Korean won closed at 1,430.2 won against the US dollar, up 8.7 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)