South Korean stocks opened steeply lower Thursday, taking a cue from the overnight tech drop on Wall Street that was spurred by increased bond yields.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 35.89 points, or 1.16 percent, to 3,047.1 points in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dipped 2.7 percent, with the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreating 1.31 percent and 0.55 percent, respectively.

Top cap Samsung Electronics lost 1.79 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix shed 1.7 percent.

Giant internet portal operator Naver fell 1.25 percent, with its rival Kakao moving down 1.62 percent.

Pharmaceutical giant Samsung Biologics declined 1.31 percent, with Celltrion retreating 0.5 percent.

Leading chemical firm LG Chem decreased 0.46 percent, and top automaker Hyundai Motor went down 1.25 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,127.5 won against the US dollar, down 6.75 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)