Seoul shares down 0.9 pct in late morning

SEOUL, Nov. 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks slumped 0.9 percent late Monday
morning as Wall Street losses in the previous session weighed down on tech, steel
and other blue chips here, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 9.79 points to
1,078.47 as of 11:20 a.m., after falling more than 2.3 percent in earlier
trading.
"Most stocks seem to have been affected by Wall Street's downswing on Friday, but
retail buying on fallen price merit is helping to reduce out losses," Lim
Dong-min, an analyst at Dongbu Securities, said.
U.S. stocks fell on Friday after a record drop in retail sales last month raised
concerns that reluctance to spend will drag the economy into an even deeper
downturn. The Dow Jones industrial average slumped 3.82 percent and the
tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index tumbled 5 percent.
Steel, tech and other export-related stocks lost ground, but retail buying in
construction and finance shares managed to prevent the key index from further
losses.
The local currency was trading at 1,406.55 won to the U.S. dollar as of 11:20
a.m., down 7.35 won from Friday's close.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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