Seoul shares turn lower late Mon. morning

SEOUL, May 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks turned lower late Monday morning after opening slightly higher, led by losses in large energy and construction companies.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had lost 3.06 points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,636.23 as of 11:20 a.m. The KOSPI started up 0.29 percent at the opening bell.

State energy provider Korea Gas dipped nearly 3 percent, and top builder Hyundai Engineering & Construction fell about 0.8 percent.

Top-cap Samsung Electronics was also down about 0.5 percent.

In contrast, leading container shipper HMM soared more than 3 percent, and internet portal giant Naver also rose 0.7 percent.

The local currency had been trading at 1,269.10 won against the greenback as of 11:20 a.m. down 1.0 won from Friday's close.

elly@yna.co.kr
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