South Korean stocks started lower Tuesday as big-cap tech shares fell across the board.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 10.94 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,731.20 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, major US stock indexes closed mixed, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite up 0.7 percent to hit a record high on chip rally ahead of Nvidia's earnings release Wednesday and S&P 500 up 0.1 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.5 percent lower.

In Seoul, most big-cap shares started in the negative territory.

Tech behemoth Samsung Electronics lost 0.51 percent, and leading carmaker Hyundai Motor dropped 0.6 percent.

Steel giant Posco Holdings retreated 1.25 percent, and top chemical producer LG Chem slid 2.43 percent.

Battery shares also lost ground, with leader LG Energy Solution down 0.81 percent, and its smaller rivals Samsung SDI and Posco Future M down 2.24 percent and 2.03 percent, respectively.

SK hynix was among the few gainers, increasing 0.79 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,363.20 won against the US dollar, down 7.3 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)