Seoul shares down 0.11 pct in late morning

By Park Bo-ram
SEOUL, June 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks traded 0.11 percent lower late
Wednesday morning, hurt by relentless foreign sell-offs, analysts said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dropped 1.5 points to
1,411.35 as of 11:20 a.m.
After posting opening gains of as high as 1 percent, the KOSPI briefly fell
after foreign investors turned net sellers, set to snap a 13 day buying streak.

"Relentless sell-offs by overseas investors limited market gains as rising
inter-Korean tension expanded intra-day volatility," said Hwang Bin-ah, an
analyst at Kyobo Securities.
Losses by financial firms led the weak trading on market speculation that major
financial companies are set to raise capital through rights offerings, raising
jitters over share value dilution.
The local currency was trading at 1,240.3 won against the U.S. dollar as of
11:20 a.m., down 0.8 won from Tuesdays' close.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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