South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday, taking a cue from overnight losses on Wall Street amid concerns over the new coronavirus resurgence in global markets.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 8.83 points, or 0.32 percent, to 2,736.61 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 0.49 percent to 30,069.79 points on rising COVID-19 cases and disappointing jobless data. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.45 percent, but the S&P 500 lost 0.19 percent.

Most large caps traded lower in Seoul.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics lost 0.96 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix retreated 1.27 percent.

Hyundai Motor, the country's largest carmaker, dropped 1.81 percent, and leading steelmaker Posco declined 1.11 percent.

Leading chemical firm LG Chem advanced 0.98 percent, and rechargeable battery maker Samsung SDI jumped 3.85 percent.

Pharmaceutical giant Samsung Biologics shed 2.27 percent, and Celltrion declined 0.87 percent.

Internet portal giant Naver fell 0.52 percent, with its rival Kakao down 0.65 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,084.6 won against the US dollar, down 2.5 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)