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SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks traded more than 2 percent lower late Tuesday morning, led by tech losses amid lingering woes about the excessive pace of artificial intelligence (AI) spending.

Opening 2.46 percent lower, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 145.02 points, or 2.48 percent, to 5,714.06 as of 11:20 a.m.

Overnight on Wall Street, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 closed 1.07 percent and 0.51 percent lower, respectively, ahead of the U.S. midterm elections slated for Tuesday.

Investor sentiment was dampened by concerns that massive spending on AI infrastructure is undermining tech firms' near-term profitability.

In Seoul, tech shares led the decline.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics sank 2.95 percent, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix slid 3.8 percent.

Hanmi Semiconductor, a leading chip equipment maker, fell 4.17 percent, and SK Square, the parent of SK hynix, tumbled 4 percent.

Steel giant POSCO Holdings slumped 5.3 percent, and leading oil refinery SK Innovation plunged 7.76 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,341 won against the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m., up 3.4 won from the previous session's close.

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