Seoul stocks open lower on Wall Street losses

SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, as investors took a breather from a record-setting rally the previous week.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 28.81 points, or 0.92 percent, to 3,119.64 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Samsung Electronics fell 1.32 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix slid 1.5 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor slipped 1.68 percent, and leading chemical company LG Chem declined 1.9 percent.

Internet portal operator Naver skid 1.46 percent, and its rival Kakao retreated 1.21 percent.

Pharmaceutical firm Samsung Biologics lost 0.95 percent, while Celltrion added 1.34 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,098.2 won against the U.S. dollar, down 0.9 won from the previous session's close.

yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
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