Seoul shares open lower on U.S. falls

SEOUL, Aug. 6 (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 4.32 points, or
0.28 percent, to 1,555.15 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
U.S. shares lost ground on Wednesday following a disappointing report on the
health of the service industry, which had a 10th straight monthly slide. The Dow
Jones industrial average shed 0.42 percent and the Nasdaq composite index lost
0.91 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,224.90 won to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15
a.m., down 0.60 won from Wednesday's close.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
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