Seoul shares tumble on U.S. losses

SEOUL, Oct. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks opened nearly 4 percent lower Thursday as fragile investor confidence was further hurt by overnight panic selling on Wall Street, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) sank 71.45 points, or 6.3
percent, to 1,063.14 in the first 15 minutes of trading after opening 3.97
percent lower from Wednesday.
U.S. stocks plunged again Wednesday as investors worried that the global economy
is poised to weaken despite an expected slow recovery in the credit market. The
Dow Jones industrial average plummeted 5.69 percent and the tech-dominated Nasdaq
composite index declined 4.77 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,422.5 won to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m.,
plunging 59.5 won from Wednesday's close.
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