Seoul Shares Tumble on Wall Street Falls

South Korean stocks tumbled Thursday morning as investors were jittery over overnight plunges on Wall Street.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) declined 57.71 points to 1,066.15 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The index was quoted at 1,057.30, down 5.92 percent, as of 10:30 a.m.

Steep losses caused the Korea Exchange (KRX), the bourse operator, to suspend program trading for five minutes after the main index futures prices fell more than 5 percent. It was the 20th such emergency break this year.

U.S. stocks nosedived Wednesday as dismal corporate earnings chilled investor sentiment. The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 4.73 percent and the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index plunged 5.17 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,391.95 won to the U.S. dollar as of 10:15 a.m., down 32.45 won from Wednesday's close.

The Seoul bourse started trading an hour later than usual at 10 a.m. Thursday and will close at 4 p.m. due to a nationwide college scholastic ability test. The foreign exchange market will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.