Seoul Stocks Hit New High at 1,962.93

South Korean stocks added to earlier gains late Friday morning as investors scooped up shares of Samsung Electronics on its better business outlook, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped 36.32 points to 1,946.07 as of 12:00.

"Investors snapped up shares of Samsung Electronics on hopes for a business turnaround in the second half," said Kim Young-gak, an analyst at Hyundai Securities Co. "Rumors that the chipmaker may be the target of a possible hostile takeover also boosted the share price."

Tech bellwether Samsung Electronics advanced 3.41 percent as investors expected its business outlook to improve in the second half. The company reported its second-quarter earnings fell 5 percent to 1.42 trillion won (US$1.55 billion).

Top steelmaker POSCO surged 9.22 percent on expectations of solid earnings. POSCO plans to announce its earnings on Monday.

Top lender Kookmin Bank climbed 0.82 percent and power monopoly Korea Electric Power Corp. rose 5.24 percent.

U.S. stocks closed sharply higher on retail sales reports. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 2.09 percent and the Nasdaq composite index gained 1.88 percent.

The local currency was trading at 915.75 won to the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m., up 2.55 won from Thursday's close.

(Yonhap)