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Seoul stocks open lower on profit-taking

Published: 04 Nov. 2025, 09:48

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi trading in the morning hours on Nov. 4. [YONHAP]

Shares opened lower Tuesday as investors sought to take profits after the stock market continued its bull run.

The benchmark Kospi lost 20.47 points, or 0.48 percent, to 4,201.4 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Kospi sets record with Korean chipmakers buoyed by Nvidia CEO's remarks

Foreigners and institutions were unloading local shares for profit-taking after the Kospi rallied Monday to breach the 4,200 mark for the first time.

Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite gained 0.46 percent on blue-chip tech shares, while the S&P 500 added 0.17 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.47 percent.

Amazon Web Services surged 4 percent following a multiyear US$38 billion deal with OpenAI, and Nvidia rose 2.17 percent on news that the Donald Trump administration gave approval to export Nvidia chips for Microsoft's data centers in the United Arab Emirates.

In Seoul, market bellwether Samsung Electronics started 0.27 percent lower after surging to a record high on Monday. Its chipmaking rival SK hynix dipped 2.5 percent on investors' profit-taking.

Major shipbuilders also kicked off weak following a rally the previous day.

HD Hyundai Heavy slid 6.1 percent, Hanwha Ocean dropped 1.8 percent, and HD Korea Shipbuilding pulled back 3.02 percent.

Defense industry leader Hanwha Aerospace lost 2.4 percent, and auto giant Hyundai Motor decreased 2.06 percent.

On the other hand, leading battery maker LG Energy Solution jumped 2.52 percent and state-run Korea Electric Power climbed 1.55 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,433.8 won against the dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 0.35 percent from the previous session's 3:30 p.m. quote of 1,428.8 won.

Yonhap