South Korean stocks opened almost flat Friday as investors took a wait-and-see approach on a possible tapering of quantitative easing (QE) by the U.S. Federal Reserve, analysts said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 0.96 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,044.81 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Tech shares traded mixed, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics losing 0.13 percent, while SK hynix gained 0.99 percent. LG Electronics fell 0.29 percent.
Shipbuilders lost ground, with Hyundai Heavy Industries moving down 0.55 percent and Samsung Heavy Industries losing 0.13 percent. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering declined 0.27 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,059.55 won to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 1.95 won from Thursday's close. (Yonhap News)
