Korean stocks started lower on Tuesday as investors attempted to lock in gains following overnight falls in Wall Street.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 8.78 points, or 0.44 percent, to 1,970.19 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Market heavyweights traded mixed, with top player Samsung Electronics shedding 1.23 percent.
Hyundai Motor, the nation's leading automaker, rose 0.35 percent.
State-run Korea Electric Power Corp. suffered 0.51 percent fall, and top steelmaker POSCO was down 0.9 percent.
U.S. stocks finished in negative terrain on Monday (local time), as investors locked in recent gains, ending their recent rally in the past few days.
The local currency was trading at 1,154.85 against the U.S. dollar, down 9.15 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)
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