Seoul shares soar late Monday morning on tech, auto gains

A dealing room at Hana Bank in central Seoul, Monday / Yonhap

Korean stocks traded sharply higher late Monday morning as foreign investors purchased blue chip tech and auto shares.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 48.25 points, or 1.72 percent, to 2,860.3 as of 11:20 a.m., as foreigners net purchased 335.9 billion won ($250 million) worth of local shares.

On Friday, Wall Street gained ground thanks to better-than-expected U.S. jobs data, which relieved investors' concerns of an economic slowdown in the world's largest economy.

The attention is now on whether the second round of high-level trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing, set to kick off later in the day in London, will reduce uncertainties in the global trade market.

In Seoul, market bellwether Samsung Electronics increased 2.2 percent, while its chipmaking rival SK hynix jumped 2.67 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor surged 4.22 percent, and its sister Kia advanced 2.36 percent. Hyundai's auto parts-making affiliate, Hyundai Mobis, soared 10.04 percent.

IT shares were also bullish, with top internet portal operator Naver climbing 3.97 percent, and Kakao, the operator of the country's dominant mobile messenger, shooting up 13.54 percent.

On the other hand, major defense firm Hanwha Aerospace dipped 2.65 percent, and shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean slid 3.08 percent.

Major battery maker LG Energy Solution lost 1.2 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,358.3 won against the greenback at 11:20 a.m., up 1 won from the previous session.