Seoul stocks open lower on U.S. losses

SEOUL, April 8 (Yonhap) -- Seoul stocks opened lower Wednesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street amid woes over the new coronavirus.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 15.95 points, or 0.87 percent, to 1,807.65 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The main index jumped 8.2 percent in the past four sessions, helped by signs of the COVID-19 outbreak slowing.
But analysts said investors remain cautious, as there is still a lot of uncertainty involving the coronavirus outbreak and its impact on the economy.

In South Korea, the coronavirus has killed 192 people, mostly elderly patients with underlying illnesses. Its virus cases stood at 10,331 as of Tuesday.

In Seoul, most large-cap stocks declined across the board.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. fell 0.6 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. shed 0.1 percent, top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. dropped 1 percent, and state-run utility Korea Electric Power Corp. was down 0.8 percent.

Among gainers, leading chemical firm LG Chem Ltd. rose 1.9 percent, leading refiner SK Innovation Co. climbed 0.2 percent, and HDC Hyundai Development Co. was up 0.8 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,220.00 won against the U.S. dollar, up 1.20 won from the previous session's close.
(END)