stocks-morning

SEOUL, Nov. 6 (Yonhap) -- Seoul stocks were trading sharply lower late Friday morning on concerns that the Democratic Party's sweeping victory in the U.S. midterm election could slow the construction of data centers.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was down 240.41 points, or 4.47 percent, to 5,143.39 as of 11:20 a.m.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Korea Exchange (KRX) had suspended trading of the KOSPI stocks for 20 minutes as the index tumbled by more than 8 percent.

Overnight, major stock indexes on Wall Street tumbled following the midterm election results, as investors sold off market top-caps in artificial intelligence (AI) and data centers.

The S&P 500 fell over 4 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq erased over 5 percent.

"As Texas accounts for around 27 percent of all data center construction in the United States, restricting construction in these areas could have negative ripple effects," said Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities.

In Seoul, shares were trading lower across the board.

Chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK hynix plunged over 3 percent and 6 percent, respectively.

Carmaker Hyundai Motor dipped 4.6 percent, defense giant Hanwha Aerospace declined 4.41 percent, and battery maker LG Energy Solution slid 0.14 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,356.2 won against the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m., down 0.7 won from the close of the previous stock trading session.

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