South Korean shares opened lower Wednesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 4.34 points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,556.90 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.42 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.09 percent. In Seoul, large caps traded mixed. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics slipped 0.13 percent while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix lost 0.87 percent. Leading drug maker Celltrion added 0.24 percent, with top internet portal operator Naver climbing 0.87 percent. Top automaker Hyundai Motor and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors both lost 0.22 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,320.05 won against the U.S. dollar, down 4.35 won from the previous session's close. Source: Yonhap News Agency