Seoul shares open lower on U.S. losses

South Korean stocks got off to a weak start on Monday, tracking losses on Wall Street in the previous trading session, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell

12.17 points, or 0.61 percent, to 1974.33 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Shares lost ground across the board, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics falling 2.3 percent and top auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis moving down 0.82 percent. Leading steelmaker POSCO decreased 0.15 percent.

U.S. stocks ended lower on Friday due to the country's falling consumer sentiment, with the Dow Jones industrial average falling

0.17 percent and the NASDAQ composite index losing 0.3 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,114.45 won to the U.S.

dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 4.15 won from Friday's close. (Yonhap News)