Seoul shares extend gains late Wednesday morning on chip rally
The KOSPI index is displayed at a dealing room of Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
Korean stocks extended gains Wednesday morning, led by a rally in semiconductor shares.
After opening 1.47 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 231.46 points, or 3.65 percent, to 6,576.99 as of 11:20 a.m.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.34 percent, while the S&P 500 declined 0.32 percent to 7,728.2. The Nasdaq composite shed 0.60 percent.
In Seoul, blue-chip shares led the advance.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics advanced 6.68 percent, while its chipmaking rival SK hynix also went up 4.49 percent.
SK Square, the parent of SK hynix, shot up 7.62 percent and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, an electronics component affiliate of Samsung Electronics, increased 4.64 percent.
The Korean won was trading at 1,415.9 won against the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m., down 2.9 won from the end of stock trading the previous day.