Seoul shares tumble on persistent jitters

SEOUL, Oct. 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks opened sharply lower Monday as institutions and foreign investors dumped blue chips amid persistent jitters in the U.S. financial market, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) tumbled 38.88 points, or
2.74 percent, to 1,380.77 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Large caps lost ground across the board, with top steelmaker POSCO falling 3.85
percent and leading shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries down more than 4 percent.
Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics shed 2.65 percent.
Financials and telecoms were also in the red. Mirae Asset & Securities was down
3.41 percent and SK Telecom also opened lower.
U.S. stocks fell Friday on unabating uncertainties despite congressional approval
of a US$700-billion bailout plan. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 1.5
percent and the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index lost 1.48 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,237.45 won to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15
a.m., down 13.95 won from Thursday's close. The local market was closed Friday
for National Foundation Day.