[THE INVESTOR] South Korean shares opened higher on June 29, on the heels of Wall Street gains, with expectations high that policymakers around the globe will take steps to contain market volatility following Brexit concerns.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 11.13 points, or 0.57 percent, to 1,947.05 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The main index brushed off a 3.38 percent loss on June 23-24 to rebound and gain 0.57 percent on June 27-28.

Britain’s decision to exit the EU has wiped out nearly US$4 trillion from the value of global equities since June 24.

Investors will closely watch if governments and central banks carry out fiscal stimulus packages and take bold monetary easing steps to minimize the post-Brexit market turmoil, analysts said.

On June 28, Korea unveiled a plan to pump 20 trillion won ($17 billion), including a 10 trillion-won supplementary budget, into the economy to ease uncertainties and underpin its flagging economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 269.48 points, or 1.57 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index climbing 2.12 percent.

Large-cap stocks advanced across the board.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.36 percent, leading cosmetics maker AmorePacific gained 0.24 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix was up 3.21 percent.

Among decliners, top automaker Hyundai Motor fell 0.72 percent, and the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. slid 0.17 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,168.55 won against the US dollar, up 2.75 won from the previous session’s close.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)