Seoul shares nosedive on U.S. financial woes

SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks opened sharply lower Tuesday as investor sentiment was battered by wide-spreading fears concerning the health of the U.S. financial system after Lehman Brothers Holdings went bankrupt, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plummeted 79.86 points,
or 5.4 percent, to 1,398.06 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Financials led the overall broad and steep declines, with top lender Kookmin Bank
tumbling 7.9 percent and leading brokerage Mirae Asset Securities plummeting more
than 11 percent. Leading non-life insurer Samsung Fire & Marine shed 2
percent.

Tech exporters, construction and shipyards were also rattled hard. Market
heavyweight Samsung Electronics and leading builder Daewoo Engineering &
Construction slumped 3.68 percent and 6.93 percent, respectively. Hyundai Heavy
Industries, the world's largest shipyard, was down 8.38 percent.

U.S. stocks were mauled Monday on news that Lehman Brothers, America's No. 4
investment bank, filed for the largest bankruptcy in the country's history. The
Dow Jones industrial average plunged 4.42 percent and the tech-dominated Nasdaq
composite index tumbled 3.6 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,106.2 won to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m.,
plunging 3.3 won from Friday's close, as foreign investors rushed to purchase the
dollar after dumping shares after dumping shares in the local bourse, dealers
said. South Korea's financial markets were closed Monday for the Chuseok holiday.