Seoul shares down 2.22 pct in late morning

SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks traded 2.22 percent lower late
Tuesday morning as investors dumped shares across the board amid global recession
woes, following losses on Wall Street, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) declined 26.14 points to
1,153.47 as of 11:20 a.m.
"Overnight falls in U.S. markets chilled investor sentiment with foreign and
institutional selling of local stocks," said Lee Sun-yup, a market analyst at
Goodmorning Shinhan Securities Co. "The local currency's sharp losses also
weighed on market sentiment."
U.S. stocks closed lower Monday as investor sentiment was hurt by the news that
Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. cut its earnings outlook and is expected to
post an operating loss for the fiscal year through March. The Dow Jones
industrial average shed 0.69 percent and the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite
index fell 2.04 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,336.25 won to the U.S. dollar as of 11:20
a.m., down 27.25 won from Monday's close.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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