The Kospi fell in early trading Tuesday, dragged down by an overnight selloff on Wall Street after US President Donald Trump announced plans to impose transit fees on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz and a Federal Reserve official struck a hawkish tone.
As of 9:22 a.m., the Kospi was down 49.25 points, or 0.72 percent, at 6,757.68.
The index opened at 6,769.06, down 37.87 points, or 0.56 percent, from the previous session's close.
On the main Kospi market, individual investors were net selling 104 billion won ($69 million), while foreign and institutional investors were net buying 76.4 billion won and 30.2 billion won, respectively.
All three major US indexes closed lower overnight. According to Investing.com, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 138.37 points, or 0.26 percent, to 52,498.64 on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.
The S&P 500 dropped 60.05 points, or 0.79 percent, to 7,515.34, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 408.43 points, or 1.55 percent, to 25,873.18.
Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East flared anew after Trump announced the resumption of a naval blockade against Iran and said he would impose tolls on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Hawkish remarks from a Federal Reserve official added to the pressure on investor sentiment.
"The Korean market is also likely to open weak in early trading, reflecting Middle East risk," said Seo Sang-young, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities. "However, the fact that Kospi night futures held firm despite the US market's decline, and that foreign investors sharply reduced their net selling in the final hour of trading, suggests the panic selling phase is easing."
Among large-cap stocks, Samsung Electronics was up 2.16 percent at 260,000 won, while SK Hynix was down 0.60 percent at 1.834 million won.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics fell 2.25 percent, Hyundai Motor dropped 4.79 percent, LG Energy Solution declined 3.04 percent, and KB Financial Group lost 3.33 percent.
At the same time, the Kosdaq was down 2.15 percent at 782.15.
On the Kosdaq market, individual and institutional investors were net buying 52.1 billion won and 30.5 billion won, respectively, while foreign investors were net selling 85.1 billion won, weighing on the index.
Among Kosdaq large caps, Jusung Engineering rose 5.48 percent and PSK gained 2.00 percent. Alteogen fell 7.42 percent, Ecopro BM dropped 3.34 percent, and Ecopro declined 4.31 percent.
moon@heraldcorp.com
