Kospi remains flat despite overnight Wall Street gains

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

Stocks opened largely flat Friday after hitting a near two-year high the previous session despite overnight gains on Wall Street.

The Kospi edged down 2.76 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,752.1 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

On Thursday, the main index rallied by more than 2 percent amid growing hopes for U.S. rate cuts soon.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.68 percent to a new high, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also advanced to set a record by increasing 0.32 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

In Seoul, Samsung Electronics fell 0.76 percent and SK hynix lost 0.88 percent.

Among tech shares, Naver gained 2.06 percent, and rival Kakao added 0.75 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,330.8 won against the dollar, up 8.4 won from the previous session's close.

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