Seoul stocks down 1.91 pct in late morning

SEOUL, Jan. 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks dropped 1.91 percent late Thursday
morning as investor sentiment was hurt by overnight U.S. losses, analysts said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dropped 23.45 points to
1,204.72 as of 11:20 a.m.
"Following Wall Street losses, investors shifted their focus to worries that
fourth-quarter corporate earnings may be worse than expected," said Lee
Seung-woo, an analyst at Daewoo Securities.
U.S. shares lost ground Wednesday as big companies warned of weak earning results
and unemployment data showed a surge. The Dow Jones industrial average shed 2.72
percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged 3.23 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,317.90 won to the U.S. dollar as of 11:20
a.m., down 25.4 won from Wednesday's close.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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