Seoul stocks open almost flat

SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks opened almost flat on Tuesday, tracking partial overnight losses on Wall Street.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was down 0.78 point, or 0.03 percent, to 2,375.46 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Most large caps were seeing mixed trade, with market kingpin Samsung Electronics moving up 1.29 percent and global chipmaker SK hynix gaining 1.67 percent.

Bio shares, meanwhile, traded in negative terrain, with Celltrion losing 0.98 percent and Samsung Biologics shedding 0.12 percent.

Most U.S. stocks declined on Monday, with the S&P 500 falling 0.2 percent and the Dow Jones industrial average dropping 0.4 percent. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index, meanwhile, was up 0.65 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,105.6 won against the U.S. dollar, down 0.8 won from the previous session's close.

khj@yna.co.kr
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