Seoul Shares Off to Slow Start on Wall Street Fall

South Korean stocks opened lower Monday as investor sentiment soured owing to losses in U.S. stock markets amid soaring oil prices.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 4.71 points, or 0.28 percent, to 1,679.74 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Tech giant Samsung Electronics shed 1.24 percent on concerns over its second-quarter earnings. As crude oil prices surged above $140 a barrel, top flag carrier Korean Air dipped 2.16 percent.

U.S. stocks closed lower Friday on record-breaking oil prices. The Dow Jones industrial average shed 0.93 percent and the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index fell 0.25 percent.

The tech-savvy Kosdaq market also opened lower at 1,682.86, down 1.59 points or 0.09 percent.

Meanwhile, the Korean won was trading at 1,043.95 won to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 2.45 won from Friday's close.