stocks-open

Seoul shares open lower on profit-taking, U.S. losses

SEOUL, Dec. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday as investors unloaded shares following the five-session winning streak and overnight Wall Street losses.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 8.02 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,606.28 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

On Wednesday, the KOSPI soared 1.78 percent to close at 2,614.30, its highest point since Sept. 15.

U.S. stocks fell overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipping 1.27 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also tumbling 1.50 percent.

In Seoul, most blue chips traded lower across the board, with chip behemoth Samsung Electronics falling 0.53 percent and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix also down 0.57 percent.

LG Energy Solution slipped 0.92 percent and smaller battery manufacturing rival Samsung SDI also dropped 1.84 percent. Leading steelmaker POSCO Holdings slumped 0.71 percent.

Leading automakers Hyundai Motor and Kia, however, added 0.40 percent and 2.95 percent, respectively.

The local currency was trading at 1,304.05 won against the U.S. dollar at 9:15 a.m., down 5.15 won from the previous session's close.

odissy@yna.co.kr

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