Seoul stocks open lower on U.S. drops

SEOUL, Dec. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks started weaker Friday as investors
tracked overnight setbacks on Wall Street, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dropped 2.59 points, or
0.16 percent, to 1,612.41 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
U.S. shares pared ground on Thursday as downbeat service industry data raised
concerns about the pace of the recovery.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.83 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq
declined 0.54 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,153.2 won to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m.,
up 2.1 won from Thursday's close.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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