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Seoul stocks open lower on U.S. tariff uncertainty

SEOUL, Feb. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday, tracking overnight declines on Wall Street amid renewed uncertainty over U.S. trade policy.

The weakness followed losses in U.S. markets as investors reacted to U.S. President Donald Trump's push to implement new tariffs after a Supreme Court ruling struck down his sweeping reciprocal import taxes.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 32.70 points, or 0.56 percent, to 5,813.39 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

On Monday, the KOSPI closed at a record high of 5,846.09, buoyed by gains in technology shares and expectations of investor-friendly policy measures.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.66 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite dropped 1.13 percent.

In Seoul, automobile and defense shares led the losses.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor fell 1.72 percent, and its smaller affiliate Kia declined 1.1 percent.

Leading defense firm Hanwha Aerospace dropped 2.1 percent, and leading shipper HMM declined 0.22 percent.

Among gainers, market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.16 percent, while chip giant SK hynix climbed 0.32 percent.

Biopharmaceutical firms Celltrion and Samsung Biologics rose 1.85 percent and 0.52 percent, respectively.

The local currency was trading at 1,445.85 won against the greenback at 9:15 a.m., down 5.85 won from the previous session.

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