Seoul stocks down 0.46 pct in late morning

SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korean shares fell 0.46 percent late Friday morning as investors remained jittery over slumping corporate performances and production cuts, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) declined 5.21 points to
1,123.3 as of 11:20 a.m.
"News of big companies' production reductions hurt investor sentiment amid a lack
of positive leads," said Rhyu Yong-suk, an analyst at Hyundai Securities.
Electronics giant Samsung Electronics will reportedly streamline its production
lines in March and reduce its chip output by 10 percent. Early this week, Hyundai
Motor and Kia Motors also cut their joint 2008 sales forecast by over 10 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,286.15 won to the U.S. dollar as of 11:20
a.m., up 20.35 won from Wednesday's close. The financial market was closed
Thursday for Christmas Day.