Seoul shares open lower on foreign selling

South Korean stocks opened lower on Monday as foreign investors and institutions offloaded local shares, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) declined 5.27 points, or 0.28 percent, to 1899.14 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Big-cap tech firms led the decline, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics falling 0.45 percent and flat panel giant LG Display sliding 1.13 percent. Top chipmaker SK hynix moved down 1.57 percent.

Logistics shares also traded in negative territory, with Hyundai Glovis, the logistics arm of Hyundai Motor Group, losing 0.93 percent while Hanjin Shipping fell 1.75 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,089.35 won to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 1.75 won from Friday's close. (Yonhap News)