Seoul: Seoul shares trimmed earlier gains late Monday morning as technology stocks further extended losses. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 3.57 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,458.80 as of 11:20 a.m. The index had opened sharply higher, jumping 23.63 points, or nearly 1 percent, in the first 15 minutes of trading on Wall Street gains. According to Yonhap News Agency, on Friday (U.S. time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.42 percent to 44,910.65 points, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.83 percent to 19,218.17. In Seoul, tech stocks were the lead decliners, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics falling 1.11 percent, while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix declined 0.4 percent. Leading home appliance maker LG Electronics dropped 2.01 percent, and top carmaker Hyundai Motor was down 1.6 percent. Among gainers, leading battery maker LG Energy Solution rose 1.97 percent, with its local rival Samsung SDI gaining 1.57 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,401.40 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., down 6.7 won from the previous session.