▲ The dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul is seen after the market close on July 13, 2026. (Yonhap)

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Seoul shares open lower, tracking Wall Street losses amid Middle East tensions

SEOUL, July 14 (Yonhap) -- Seoul shares opened lower Tuesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, as investors remained concerned about heightened uncertainty in the Middle East.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 37.87 points, or 0.56 percent, to 6,769.06 at the opening bell.

The index nose-dived 9 percent the previous session amid renewed woes over the U.S-Iran standoff.

Uncertainty over artificial intelligence (AI) sectors also prodded investors to unload tech heavyweights.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.26 percent to 52,498.64, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.55 percent to 25,873.18.

A standoff between the United States and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, along with a slump in SK hynix's U.S.-listed shares overnight, sapped investor sentiment.

On Monday, SK hynix and Samsung Electronics plunged 15.37 percent and 10.7 percent, respectively. The weakness extended to U.S. trading, with SK hynix's American depositary shares falling 9.3 percent overnight.

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