Seoul shares plunge on U.S. bailout rejection

SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks opened sharply lower Tuesday
after U.S. lawmakers failed to endorse a US$700-billion emergency rescue plan for
the country's crumbling financial system, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) tumbled 69.96 points, or
4.8 percent, to 1,386.4 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Blue chips were battered across the board, with steel and finance shares losing
the most. Top steelmaker POSCO plummeted more than 6 percent and Woori Financial
Holdings tumbled more than 8 percent.
Exporters, such as tech and shipbuilding companies, also suffered. Samsung
Electronics fell 4.41 percent and Hyundai Heavy Industries went down 6.64
percent.
U.S. stocks suffered jaw-dropping losses on Monday after a majority of House
members unexpectedly voted to reject the Bush administration's $700 billion plan
to buy up bad debt. The Dow Jones industrial average sank 6.98 percent while the
tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index crashed 9.14 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,223.5 won to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m.,
plunging 34.7 won from Monday's close as offshore investors continued their
dollar buying, dealers said.