Seoul stocks start lower following Wall Street

SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korean shares opened weak Friday, tracking a sharp decline on Wall Street.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 19.48 points, or 0.94 percent, to 2,049.24 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Most large caps traded lower with market kingpin Samsung Electronics falling 0.38 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor declined 1.79 percent and top steelmaker POSCO slipped 1.09 percent.

Naver, the operator of the country's top Internet portal, shed 4.22 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,103.20 won against the U.S. dollar, down 4.4 won from the previous session's close.
(END)