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Seoul stocks open lower on U.S. losses

Published: 07 Nov. 2025, 09:52

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi opening on Nov. 7. [YONHAP]

Shares opened nearly 1 percent lower Friday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street sparked by woes over an AI bubble and jobs.

The Kospi shed 39.52 points, or 0.98 percent, to 3,986.93 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, major U.S. indexes closed lower on revived fears of overstretched valuation of AI-related shares and data showing a cooling labor market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.84 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite dipped 1.9 percent, and the S&P 500 went down 1.12 percent.

The latest data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas revealed that U.S. companies announced 153,074 job cuts last month, marking almost a threefold increase from the same month last year.

In Seoul, most big-cap stocks started in negative territory.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics lost 0.2 percent, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix dipped 1.35 percent.

Leading carmaker Hyundai Motor retreated 1.49 percent, and its sister Kia dropped 1.16 percent.

Major power plant builder Doosan Enerbility declined 1.89 percent, and defense giant Hanwha Aerospace slid 3.92 percent.

Shipbuilders were also weak, with HD Hyundai Heavy down 1.9 percent, Hanwha Ocean shedding 1.63 percent and HD Korea Shipbuilding going down 1.55 percent.

Electric equipment manufacturer HD Hyundai Electric also plunged 4.11 percent.

Financial shares were among the few gainers, with KB Financial rising 0.72 percent and Shinhan Financial gaining 0.38 percent.

Top battery maker LG Energy Solution also added 0.32 percent.

The local currency had been trading at 1,449.3 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 0.11 percent from the previous session of 1,447.7 won.

Yonhap