Seoul shares open lower on U.S. falls

SEOUL, July 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks started slightly lower Thursday as
investor sentiment was dented by overnight setbacks on Wall Street, analysts
said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dropped 3.51 points, or
0.23 percent, to 1,520.81 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
U.S. shares lost ground on Wednesday on sinking oil prices and fears over the
slowing of China's economic recovery, with the Dow Jones industrial average
shedding 0.29 percent and the Nasdaq composite index losing 0.39 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,242.85 won to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15
a.m., down 2.95 won from Wednesday's close.
ylee@yna.co.kr
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