South Korean shares dropped more than 1 percent after opening Thursday, taking a cue from Wall Street losses prompted by an underwhelming earnings result by global artificial intelligence chip giant Nvidia.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 31.62 points, or 1.18 percent, to 2,658.21 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight in the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.39 percent, with the S&P 500 losing 0.6 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite slipped 1.12 percent higher as well.

The Wall Street lost ground as Nvidia's closely followed second-quarter earnings result failed to impress investors, despite having beaten market expectations.

In Seoul, Samsung Electronics and chip rival SK hynix plunged 3.27 percent and 6.36 percent, respectively.

Energy shares also extended losses from the previous session. Leading refiner SK Innovation shed 0.37 percent, and S-Oil fell 0.16 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor, meanwhile, added 1.74 percent following the company's new mid- to long-term business strategy announced the previous day. Affiliate Kia also gained 0.86 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,338.15 won against the US dollar, up 0.85 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)