Seoul stocks open weaker on U.S. falls

SEOUL, March 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks got off to a weak start Tuesday,
tracking Wall Street losses, analysts said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 4.34 points, or 0.4
percent, to 1,067.39 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Tech giant Samsung Electronics and wireless telephony SK Telecom led the early
falls as investors were disheartened by overnight Wall Street losses. The Dow
Jones industrial average dropped 1.21 percent to 6,547.05 and the tech-laced
Nasdaq slid 1.95 percent to 1,268.64 with a big drugmaker merger deal weighing
down the market.
The local currency was trading at 1,557.75 to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m.,
down 8.75 won from Monday's close.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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