Stocks sharply up late Thursday morning, topping 5,000 mark
Dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, Thursday / Yonhap
Korean stocks were trading sharply higher late morning, jumping over 2 percent, to top the historical 5,000 mark.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 99.91 points, or 2.03 percent, to 5,009.84 as of 11:20 a.m.
Overnight, U.S. stocks climbed, recovering a significant portion of losses in the previous session after U.S. President Donald Trump retracted his earlier plan to impose Greenland-related tariffs on eight European nations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.21 percent, and the S&P 500 added 1.16 percent, while the Nasdaq composite increased 1.18 percent.
In Seoul, large-cap shares were trading higher, with tech shares leading the really.
Market top-cap Samsung Electronics rose 3.95 percent, while its chipmaking rival SK hynix added 3.65 percent.
Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution jumped 5.7 percent.
Auto shares were mixed, with top carmaker Hyundai Motor adding 0.91 percent, while its sister Kia lost 1.92 percent.
Bio and financial shares were in negative territory, with KB Financial Group dipping 1.32 percent, while bio giant Samsung Biologics tumbled 4.22 percent.
The local currency was quoted at 1,468.05 won against the U.S. dollar, up 3.25 won from the previous session.