Seoul shares almost flat late Thu. morning

SEOUL, South Korean stocks turned almost flat late Thursday morning after starting higher as auto and bio shares lost ground. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had edged down 0.04 point to 2,620.38 as of 11:20 a.m., almost unchanged from the previous session's close. Individual investors and foreigners sold a combined 149.5 billion won (US$112.1 million) worth of stocks, offsetting institutions' stock purchases valued at 127 billion won. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 0.81 percent, while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. gained 0.2 percent. Auto and bio shares went south. Top carmaker Hyundai Motor declined 1.63 percent and its smaller affiliate Kia plunged 2.55 percent. Bio giant Samsung Biologics went down 0.85 percent, and Celltrion lost 0.6 percent. But battery and IT shares gained ground. Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution advanced 0.77 percent and its smaller rival Samsung SDI rose 0.26 percent. POSCO Future M also jumped 3.33 percent. Internet portal operato r Naver climbed 1.73 percent, and Kakao, the operator of the country's top mobile messenger, shot up 9.84 percent on record sales in the fourth quarter. The local currency was trading at 1,334.10 won against the U.S. dollar, up 1.3 won from the previous session's close. Source: Yonhap News Agency