Seoul Shares Rise After Weak Start

South Korean stocks opened lower Friday but soon edged up as foreign investors snapped up tech, construction and other blue-chip shares, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 4.37 points, or 0.26 percent, to 1,680.61 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Tech exporters gained ground as investors bet that Motorola's plan announced Thursday to separate its mobile phone unit from its networking equipment business would benefit Korean handset rivals.

Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics both gained ground.

Construction and energy shares also traded higher. Top builder Daewoo Engineering & Construction rose more than 2.3 percent and leading refiner SK Energy added more than 1 percent.

The local currency was trading at 990.85 won to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 2.85 won from Thursday's close. (Yonhap)