Seoul shares up late Wednesday morning on large-cap, IT gains

A dealing room at Hana Bank in central Seoul, June 18. Yonhap

South Korean stocks traded higher late Wednesday morning, driven by the robust performance of market heavyweight Samsung Electronics and IT shares.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 20.07 points, or 0.68 percent, to 2,970.37 as of 11:20 a.m.

Overnight, Wall Street lost ground on news U.S. President Donald Trump called for Iran's "unconditional surrender" and warned people in Tehran to evacuate immediately.

Iran has been engaging in a military conflict with Israel after the latter conducted preemptive airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities earlier this week.

In Seoul, tech behemoth Samsung Electronics climbed 1.98 percent, while its chipmaking rival SK hynix shed 0.2 percent.

IT shares were rallying, with top internet portal operator Naver soaring 15.25 percent, and Kakao, the operator of the country's dominant mobile messenger, jumping 5.5 percent.

Major oil refinery SK Innovation surged 9.66 percent as the Israel-Iran conflict drove up international oil prices.

But defense giant Hanwha Aerospace lost 1.15 percent, and leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy went down 1.83 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,371.7 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., down 9.0 won from the previous session.