Stocks open lower on U.S. losses

SEOUL, Sept. 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks opened lower on Friday on overnight losses in Wall Street.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 17.57 points, or 0.85 percent, to 2,046.16 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

U.S. stocks closed lower on Thursday on a slump in tech stocks, with the Dow Jones industrial average losing 0.3 percent to 18,479.91 points in the face of a dip in Apple Inc.

Apple Inc. fell some 2.5 percent as its latest iPhone 7 failed to appeal to Wall Street.

Most large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics shedding 1.71 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor shed 0.36 percent, and top steelmaker POSCO lost 1.3 percent.

Naver, the operator of the country's top internet portal, fell 2.3 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,098.15 won against the U.S. dollar, up 5.55 won from the previous session's close.

sam@yna.co.kr
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