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| ▲ This photo shows a dealing room at Hana Bank in central Seoul on April 10, 2025. (Yonhap) |
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Seoul shares open sharply lower on intensifying U.S.-China tariff row
SEOUL, April 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks opened sharply lower Friday amid an intensifying trade conflict between the United States and China stemming from Washington's reciprocal tariff scheme.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) slid 39.21 points, or 1.6 percent, to 2,405.85 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Overnight, Wall Street, which rallied the previous session from U.S. President Donald Trump's pause on reciprocal tariffs for 90 days, plunged amid the intensifying tit-for-tat retaliatory tariff measures between Washington and Beijing.
The S&P 500 dropped 3.46 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.5 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite tumbled 4.31 percent.
In Seoul, market bellwether Samsung Electronics dropped 2.13 percent, while its chipmaking rival SK hynix shed 2.95 percent.
Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution slumped 4.29 percent, and top automaker Hyundai Motor lost 4.22 percent.
Steel giant POSCO Holdings and leading refiner SK Innovation retreated 2.68 percent and 5.48 percent, respectively.
The local currency was trading at 1,454 won against the U.S. dollar at 9:15 a.m., up 2.4 won from the previous session.
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