Seoul shares open lower

Seoul shares opened sharply lower on Friday as U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments on the bond purchase dented market sentiment. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dropped 36.16 points, or 1.95 percent, to trade at 1,814.33 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Bernanke said Wednesday (local time) that the Fed was likely to begin reducing the pace of quantitative easing later this year, before bringing it to an end by the middle of next year. The South Korean currency was quoted at 1,158.5 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 12.8 won from Thursday's close.