Seoul shares open lower on U.S. losses

▲ This photo taken on Oct. 17, 2025, shows the dealing room of Hana Bank in central Seoul. (Yonhap)

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Seoul shares open lower on U.S. losses

SEOUL, Oct. 17 (Yonhap) -- Seoul shares opened lower Friday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street amid lingering concerns over the fallout from escalating U.S.-China trade tensions.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 19.87 points, or 0.53 percent, to 3,728.50 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The KOSPI jumped 2.49 percent to close at a fresh all-time high of 3,748.37 points on Thursday.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.65 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite declined 0.47 percent.

U.S. stocks came under pressure after reports of bad loans at two U.S. banks stoked concerns about the credit market.

In Seoul, large-cap stocks traded mixed.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 0.2 percent, while leading home appliance maker LG Electronics declined 0.36 percent.

National flag carrier Korean Air lost 0.45 percent, and defense firm Hanwha Aerospace shed 1.28 percent.

Among gainers, top carmaker Hyundai Motor rose 1.24 percent and its smaller affiliate Kia climbed 0.72 percent.

Hanwha Ocean, a shipbuilding arm of Hanwha Group, gained 2.43 percent and leading steelmaker POSCO Holdings advanced 0.7 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,417.95 won against the greenback as of 9:15 a.m., down 0.05 won from the previous session's close.

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