Seoul stocks open higher on institutional buying

SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korean shares started higher Thursday on strong
institutional buying, brushing off overnight Wall Street losses, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 10.08 points, or
0.86 percent, to 1,179.83 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Wall Street ended lower Wednesday due to a set of bleak earnings reports, a day
after the Fed's interest rate cut sent the market sharply higher.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.12 percent, while the tech-dominated
Nasdaq shed 0.67 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,307.75 to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up
17.25 won from Wednesday's close.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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