Seoul: South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday, following a five-day streak of record-setting gains. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) went down 8.66 points, or 0.23 percent, to 3,815.18 in the first 15 minutes of choppy trading.

According to Yonhap News Agency, U.S. shares ended mixed Tuesday. The S and P 500 inched up less than 0.01 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 218 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite slipped 0.16 percent. In Seoul, large-cap shares traded mixed.

Chip giant Samsung Electronics went down 0.82 percent and rival SK hynix lost 1.15 percent. In contrast, defense giant Hanwha Aerospace went up 2.77 percent and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution increased 3.09 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,431.9 won against the greenback as of 9:15 a.m., down 4.2 won from the previous session's close.