Seoul shares opened lower on Tuesday amid heightened uncertainty in the Middle East. The benchmark KOSPI fell 0.41 percent to 6,779.04, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street.
At 9:15 a.m. the KOSPI was down 27.89 points from the previous close. The index had plunged 9 percent the day before amid renewed concerns over the U.S.-Iran standoff in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.26 percent to 52,498.64 overnight while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.55 percent to 25,873.18. SK hynix and Samsung Electronics plunged 15.37 percent and 10.7 percent respectively on Monday.
In Seoul trading SK hynix eased 0.27 percent, Hanwha Aerospace fell 6.7 percent and Hyundai Motor shed 3.9 percent. The Korean won traded at 1,497.30 won per dollar.
