Seoul shares open lower on U.S. losses

SEOUL, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday as overnight Wall Street losses due to worries over Washington's bail out plan discomforted investors here, analysts said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 12.08 points, or 0.83 percent, to 1,448.26 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Tech exporters and shippers shed the most, with market leader Samsung Electronics falling more than 1 percent and Hanjin Shipping also trading lower.
Steelmakers and financials were also in the black. Leading steelmaker POSCO lost 0.64 percent and Shinhan Financial Group tumbled 2.36 percent.
U.S. stocks slumped on Monday as investors grew nervous about its government's plan to buy US$700 billion in banks' mortgage debt. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 3.27 percent and the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index fell 4.17 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,152.4 won to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 12.2 won from Monday's close.