Kospi opens lower as major blue chips stumble

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the stock market price as it opens on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Stocks opened lower Wednesday after major blue chips finished bearish on Wall Street.

The Kospi fell 8.84 points, or 0.33 percent, to 2,640.56 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the U.S. stock market closed lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 1.04 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite losing 1.65 percent.

In Seoul, Samsung Electronics moved down 0.81 percent and SK hynix lost 1.39 percent.

LG Chem dropped 0.44 percent and SK Innovation slid 0.68 percent.

Kumyang, which shot up more than 20 percent the previous day after the company announced the development of a new battery, gained 2.39 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,336.2 won against the dollar, up 1.7 won from the previous session's close.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG, YONHAP [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]