Seoul shares dip after high start

South Korean stocks opened higher on Monday but swung to negative territory due to losses in major blue chips, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 9.28 points, or 0.49 percent, to 1,895.84 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Samsung Electronics slumped 2.11 percent following Apple Inc.'s move to add more products to its patent infringement list. Top steelmaker POSCO lost 1.22 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,133.05 won to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 1.65 won from Friday's close. (Yonhap News)