Seoul shares down 0.25 pct in late Mon. morning trade

SEOUL, Aug. 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks traded 0.25 percent lower late Monday morning, led by losses in tech blue-chips and shipping firms.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) slipped 6.16 points to 2,484.64 as of 11:20 a.m.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics sank more than 1 percent and chip giant SK hynix dipped more than 2.5 percent. Leading container shipper HMM slumped more than 3 percent and logistics firm Hyundai Glovis fell nearly 1 percent.

Platform operator Kakao, in contrast, rose 0.9 percent and biopharmaceutical company Celltrion climbed nearly 1.8 percent.

The local currency was changing hands at 1,303.80 won against the greenback as of 11:20 a.m., down 5.5 won from Friday's close.

elly@yna.co.kr
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