Seoul stocks turn up late Monday morning on bargain hunting
The benchmark KOSPI and Kosdaq indices, as well as the won-dollar exchange rate, are displayed at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
Seoul stocks reversed course to trade higher late Monday morning as investors went bargain hunting for tech heavyweights.
After opening over 1 percent lower, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was up 93.16 points, or 1.63 percent, to 5,823.9 as of 11:20 a.m.
On Friday, the index dipped over 3 percent amid persistent woes over the profitability of artificial intelligence (AI) investment.
On Friday (U.S. time), the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq both closed down over 1 percent, as disappointing quarterly results from big tech companies fueled concerns over investments in AI .
Chip giant Intel led the overall decline, plunging over 28 percent, while Google's parent company Alphabet dipped 1.4 percent.
Despite the AI-related cash burn woes, Korea's semiconductor exports remained strong, with outbound shipments for the sector skyrocketing 259 percent on-year in October, data from the trade ministry showed.
Chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK hynix added 0.89 percent and 2.47 percent, respectively.
AI investment firm SK Square strengthened 2.79 percent, bio firm Celltrion added 0.89 percent, and defense giant Hanwha Aerospace jumped 6.75 percent.
The Korean won was trading at 1,341.9 won against the U.S. dollar, down 7.6 won from the close of the previous session, as of 11:20 a.m.