Seoul shares open lower on U.S. losses

South Korean stocks got off to a weak start on Tuesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 11.02 points, or 0.55 percent, to 1998.50 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Shares lost ground across the board, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics falling 0.72 percent and No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor moving down 0.47 percent. Top steelmaker POSCO decreased 0.7 percent.

U.S. stocks ended lower Monday on rising concerns over the eurozone following Italy's election, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 1.55 percent and the NASDAQ composite index losing 1.44 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,087.55 won to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 1.25 won from Monday's close. (Yonhap News)