Seoul shares turn lower late Mon. morning on battery, auto losses

SEOUL, South Korean stocks turned lower late Monday morning, hurt by a slide in battery and auto shares. After starting 0.38 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index had lost 3.12 points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,574.96 as of 11:20 a.m. Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution dipped 0.12 percent, its smaller rival Samsung SDI dropped 1.46 percent, and POSCO Future M plunged more than 3.2 percent. Auto shares were also weak, with Hyundai Motor down 0.64 percent and Kia down 1.64 percent. Bio shares also lost ground, with Samsung Biologics down 0.26 percent and Celltrion down 3.03 percent. Steel giant POSCO Holdings and leading chemical producer LG Chem lost 1.25 percent and 0.31 percent, respectively. But tech giant Samsung Electronics gained 0.26 percent, internet portal operator Naver jumped 3.17 percent, and Kakao, the operator of the country's top mobile messenger, soared 3.41 percent. IT service company Samsung SDS shot up 5.86 percent. The local currency had been trading at 1,313.70 won against the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m., up 1.7 won from the previous session's close. Source: Yonhap News Agency