The benchmark KOSPI is displayed at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap
Seoul shares turned lower late Friday morning as renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East weighed on investor sentiment.
After opening 1.09 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) traded down 36.07 points, or 0.57 percent, to 6,260.31 as of 11:20 a.m.
The index plunged 4.58 percent in the previous session, dragged down mainly by losses in technology stocks.
Overnight, U.S. stocks declined. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.85 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 0.06 percent amid a lack of clarity over a possible agreement between the United States and Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
