Seoul stocks trim earlier gains late Wed. morning
Officials work at a dealing room of Hana Bank in central Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
Korean stocks traded slightly higher late Wednesday morning as easing oil prices provided some support, though elevated U.S. Treasury yields continued to weigh on investor sentiment.
After opening 1.06 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) pared its earlier gains to trade up 17.62 points, or 0.26 percent, to 6,888.43 as of 11:20 a.m.
Overnight, U.S. stocks ended slightly lower despite a decline in oil prices, as persistently high Treasury yields continued to weigh on investor sentiment.
Semiconductor shares, however, bucked the broader weakness. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 1.32 percent, providing a positive cue for Korean chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.17 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.26 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite ticked down 0.09 percent.
Heavyweights were mixed.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics declined 0.83 percent, while chip giant SK hynix gained 1.42 percent.
SK Square, the parent company of SK hynix, added 1.43 percent, while Samsung Electro-Mechanics, an electronics component affiliate of Samsung Electronics, shed 0.46 percent.
The Korean won was trading at 1,358.2 won against the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m., down 4.2 won from the close of the previous stock trading session.