South Korean stocks opened lower Monday tracking with foreigners turning net sellers on profit taking. The won rose against the dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 2.40 points, or 0.10 percent, to 2,355.97 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
This week, investors are expected to take a wait-and-see attitude ahead of two major events that could affect the markets.
They are the annual economic policy symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and the Ulchi-Freedom Guardian military drill involving South Korean and US troops aimed at countering North Korean provocations.
On Friday (local time), US stocks closed lower, with the Dow Jones industrial average shedding 0.35 percent to 21,674.51, with the tech-heavy NASDAQ losing 0.09 percent to 6,216.53.
Most large-cap stocks fell across the board, with technology and auto shares leading losses.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. backtracked 0.47 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. declined 0.15 percent, and top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. was down 0.35 percent.
Domestic-centered businesses, such as cosmetics, traded in positive territory. Cosmetics giant AmorePacific Corp. rose 0.18 percent, and LG Household & Health Care Ltd. was up 0.31 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,137.90 won against the US dollar, up 3.4 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)
