Seoul shares extend gains late Wednesday morning on tech gains

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

Seoul shares extended gains late Wednesday morning, led by semiconductor and other market heavyweights, despite continued uncertainty in the Middle East.

After opening 3.3 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) extended its gains, rising 470.13 points, or 6.86 percent, to 7,326.96 as of 11:20 a.m.

The index closed 0.73 percent higher Tuesday after rebounding from an 8.95 percent plunge a session earlier, which was triggered by a massive sell-off in technology stocks.

Local stocks advanced after an unexpectedly sharp slowdown in U.S. inflation boosted Wall Street overnight and eased expectations of imminent interest-rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.02 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.9 percent.

However, renewed tensions between the United States and Iran in the Middle East remained a major concern for investors.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday (U.S. time) withdrew his proposal to impose a 20 percent "reimbursement" fee on cargo shipped through the strategic Strait of Hormuz, saying he would instead pursue trade and investment agreements with Middle Eastern countries.

Just a day earlier, he had said the U.S. would serve as the "guardian" of the strait and be reimbursed at a rate of 20 percent on all cargo shipped through the waterway.

Institutional and foreign investors purchased a net 216.2 billion won (US$145 million) and 1.4 trillion won worth of shares, respectively, while retail investors sold a net 1.6 trillion won.

In Seoul, tech stocks led the gains.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics jumped 6.18 percent, while rival chipmaker SK hynix surged 11.34 percent.

Leading automaker Hyundai Motor rose 2.83 percent, defense company Hanwha Aerospace climbed 6.31 percent, and steelmaker POSCO Holdings gained 3.79 percent.

Among decliners, cosmetics maker Amorepacific fell 1.58 percent, while leading beverage maker Hitejinro slipped 0.74 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,490.85 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., down 0.35 won from the previous session.