Seoul shares retreated Thursday led by tech stocks over concerns that the United States may tighten chip sales to China. The local currency fell against the US dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) shed 18.67 points, or 0.67 percent, to close at 2,824.35.

Trade volume was slightly heavy at 632.9 million shares worth 15.1 trillion won ($10.9 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 602 to 275.

Foreign investors dumped local shares worth 381 billion won, while retail investors and institutions bought 417 billion won worth of shares combined.

Overnight, Wall Street underwent stagnant trading over concerns of potentially worsening trade tensions between the US and China, with chip shares taking heavy beatings. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite dropped 1.3 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6 percent.

Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said, "The domestic stock market continued to show a downward trend due to the sharp decline in US semiconductor stocks and adverse factors from policy uncertainties in the US."

The Seoul stock market lost ground overall, led by chip and tech share losses. Chip giant SK hynix fell 3.63 percent to 212,500 won and consumer electronics maker LG Electronics lost 1.07 percent to finish at 110,900 won.

Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics, however, managed to rise 0.23 percent to 86,900 won in late trading, recouping losses from earlier in the session.

Battery and automotive shares took beatings, with leading battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution down 0.45 percent to 335,000 won and top automaker Hyundai Motor sliding 2.98 percent to 260,500 won.

Bio-related stocks also retreated, with Samsung Biologics falling 0.12 percent to 850,000 won and Celltrion falling 2.39 percent to 187,900 won.

The local currency had been trading at 1,381.7 won against the greenback as of 3:30 p.m., down 0.2 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)