[THE INVESTOR] South Korean stocks were down early Aug. 22, following losses on Wall Street last week.

The benchmark KOSPI shed 4.85 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,051.39 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The decline followed Wall Street losses last week.



The Dow Jones industrial average retreated 0.24 percent to close at 18,552.57 on Aug. 19, with the tech-laden NASDAQ slipping 0.03 percent to 5,238.38.

Large caps traded mixed across the board in Seoul.

Top cap Samsung Electronics advanced 0.36 percent, with global chipmaker SK hynix gaining 0.85 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor lost 0.38 percent, while its smaller affiliate Kia Motors climbed 0.12 percent.

The local currency lost ground against the US dollar.

The South Korean won was trading at 1,121.1 won against the US greenback as of 9:15 a.m., weakening 3.5 won from the previous session’s close.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)