Seoul shares opened lower Wednesday as big-cap tech and auto shares started in negative territory.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 5.23 points, or 0.19 percent, to 2,769.16 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.76 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 gained 1.26 percent and 0.39 percent, respectively, as megacap tech shares gained ground.

In Seoul, tech behemoth Samsung Electronics lost 0.87 percent, while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix jumped 3.33 percent tracking AI chip giant Nvidia's gains.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution was flat, while its smaller rival Samsung SDI rose 0.41 percent.

Financial shares started off weak, with KB Financial Group down 1.27 percent and Shinhan Financial Group down 1.48 percent.

Steel giant Posco Holdings dropped more than 1 percent, and top chemical producer LG Chem also shed 0.57 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,391.50 won against the US dollar, down 4.0 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)