South Korean stocks opened nearly flat Wednesday, tracking overnight Wall Street losses.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 1.55 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,258.54 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Investor sentiment turned risk-averse, largely on the COVID-19's impact on the global behemoths' earnings, such as 3M and McDonald's.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.77 percent to 26,379.28, with the Nasdaq Composite falling 1.27 percent. S&P 500 lost 0.65 percent. 

In Seoul, most large caps traded mixed.

Market behemoth Samsung Electronics added 1.71 percent, while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix retreated 0.48 percent.

Internet giant Naver climbed 0.17 percent, with its rival Kakao up 0.3 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor shed 2.03 percent, while leading chemical firm LG Chem dipped 1.28 percent.

Pharmaceutical giant Samsung Biologics lost 0.92 percent, with Celltrion down 1.1 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,197.60 won against the US dollar, down 0.7 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)