[THE INVESTOR]  South Korean shares started slightly lower on Oct. 19, unperturbed by overnight gains on Wall Street.

The benchmark KOSPI fell 0.48 point, or 0.02 percent, to 2,027.88 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 75.54 points, or 0.4 percent, to 18,161.94.

On the Seoul bourse, top cap Samsung Electronics rose 0.88 percent and the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. lost 0.76 percent.

Leading automaker Hyundai Motor shed 0.37 percent and major steelmaker POSCO was off 0.21 percent, while mobile and Internet service provider SK Telecom gained 0.44 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,124 won against the US dollar, up 5.40 won from the previous session’s close.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)