South Korean stocks opened a tad lower Thursday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street led by declines in big-cap tech shares.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) shed 3.05 points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,500.01 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Foreigners were on a selling mode, which offset buying by institutions and retail investors.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.31 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite slid 0.6 percent as major tech shares lost ground following marked gains in recent sessions.

In Seoul, market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 0.89 percent, and chip giant SK hynix sank 2.79 percent.

But leading battery maker LG Energy Solution rose 0.87 percent, and leading chemicals producer LG Chem advanced 1.16 percent.

Carmakers opened higher, as top automaker Hyundai Motor increased 0.45 percent and its sister affiliate Kia inched up 0.21 percent.

Financials were under heavy downward pressure. KB Financial Group dropped 1.22 percent, and Shinhan Financial Group dove 3.09 percent.

Top steelmaker Posco Holdings gained 0.5 percent, and internet platform giant Naver jumped 1.97 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,393.85 won against the greenback at 9:15 a.m., up 3.15 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)