Seoul Shares Plunge on Foreign Selling

South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday as foreign investors dumped shipbuilding, tech and other large-cap issues.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 6.39 points, or 0.43 percent, to 1,483.86 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The index dropped further to 1,470.18, down 1.35 percent as of 10 a.m.

Shipbuilders and tech exporters led the overall losses, with Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's No. 1 shipyard, sliding more than 3 percent and tech bellwether Samsung Electronics slumping 2.4 percent. Daewoo Engineering & Construction and other builders lost ground.

Lenders and telecoms, however, prevented the key index from falling further. Top lender Kookmin Bank added 1.5 percent and KT, a leading fixed-line operator, also opened higher.

The tech-savvy Kosdaq market also continued its slide on foreign selling. The Kosdaq index was quoted at 472.24, down 1.01 percent,

The Korean currency was trading at 1,089.35 won to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 0.05 won from Tuesday's close.