Seoul stocks open almost flat on lack of market momentum

South Korean stocks opened almost flat on Friday as investors attempted to cash in recent gains amid a lack of market momentum.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index inched down 0.91 point, or 0.04 percent, to 2,138.32 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Large caps were mixed, with market kingpin Samsung Electronics unchanged.

No. 1 portal operator Naver shed 2.78 percent and carmaker Hyundai Motor was down 0.4 percent.

In contrast, chipmaker SK hynix climbed 0.48 percent and POSCO, the No. 1 steelmaker, increased 0.23 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,168.3 won against the US dollar, up 1.4 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)