South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 7.29 points, or 0.34 percent, to 2,160.22 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The decline followed overnight losses on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.06 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index declining 0.29 percent.

Most large-cap stocks were mixed across the board.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. gained 0.77 percent, and SK Telecom, the No. 1 mobile carrier in the country, was up 0.20 percent.

Meanwhile, the state-run utility firm Korea Electric Power Corp. declined 1.28 percent, and the top automaker Hyundai Motor was down 1.60 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,118.50 won against the US dollar, down 3.20 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)