Seoul shares open higher; CJ shares tumble

SEOUL, May 21:  – Seoul shares opened higher on Tuesday after global markets mostly rose overnight, approaching the psychologically significant 2,000-point mark for the first time since it fell back from that level in early April.

Shares in CJ Corp, a holding company of food-to-entertainment firm CJ Group, fell 4.4 percent after the Korea Economic Daily and other media reported on Tuesday that prosecutors were investigating whether the CJ Group had set up a slush fund of 7 billion won ($6.27 million). A CJ Group spokeswoman confirmed that prosecutors raided CJ headquarters on Tuesday but declined further comment.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index was up 0.5 percent at 1,992.27 points as of 0006 GMT. (AGENCIES)