Seoul shares extend gains late Thursday morning on tech rally

The KOSPI index is displayed at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

Korean stocks extended their gains late Thursday morning, driven by a semiconductor rally, as Micron Technology's better-than-expected earnings erased concerns over artificial intelligence (AI) growth.

After opening 2.74 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) extended gains, adding 414.55 points, or 4.89 percent, to 8,885.57 as of 11:20 a.m.

Overnight, Wall Street closed mixed on concerns about overvaluation of artificial intelligence (AI)-related shares.

After the market closed, however, Micron, the world's No. 3 memory chipmaker, released its quarterly earnings, sharply beating market expectations.

In Seoul, blue chip shares led the early run.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics jumped 4.77 percent, and chip giant SK hynix soared 9.61 percent.

Hanmi Semiconductor, a leading chip equipment maker, advanced 2.22 percent, and LG Electronics rose 0.24 percent.

Financial shares were also among the winners as KB Financial Group gained 1.91 percent and Samsung Life Insurance climbed 6.47 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,547.25 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., down 5.25 won from the previous session.