Seoul Shares Fall on Foreign, Institutional Selling

Seoul stocks opened lower Tuesday as foreign investors and institutions sold off insurance, high tech and other large-cap shares.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 15.03 points, or 0.81 percent, to 1,832.5 at the opening bell.

Insurance and tech shares fell sharply. Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance slid more than 1.6 percent and flat panel giant LG Display dipped more than 2 percent.

Other major sectors also lost ground. Daewoo Engineering & Construction and power monopoly KEPCO opened lower. Doosan Heavy Industries also dropped more than 2 percent.

The tech-heavy Kosdaq market opened at 648.54, down 2.57 points 0.39 percent.

Meanwhile, the Korean won was trading at 1,024.2 won to the U.S. dollar., down 1.5 won from Monday's close.