Seoul shares narrow losses late Fri. morning on tech gains
The benchmark KOSPI is displayed at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap
Seoul shares narrowed their losses late Friday morning as investors engaged in profit-taking while scooping up major technology stocks ahead of the holiday.
After opening 0.47 percent lower, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 16.72 points, or 0.24 percent, to 6,977.07 as of 11:20 a.m.
The market will be closed Monday for a national holiday.
Overnight, U.S. stocks finished modestly higher as benchmark Treasury yields eased from fresh multi-decade highs, although gains were capped by rising crude oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.04 percent, while the benchmark S&P 500 gained 0.19 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 0.04 percent.
In Seoul, market heavyweights were trading mixed.
Top market cap Samsung Electronics inched up 0.09 percent, and chip giant SK hynix gained 0.44 percent.
SK Square, the parent company of SK hynix, declined 0.43 percent, while Samsung Electro-Mechanics, an electronics component affiliate of Samsung Electronics, inched down 0.13 percent.
The Korean won was trading at 1,359 won against the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m., up 0.6 won from the previous session's close.