The Korea Herald

지나쌤

Seoul shares open higher on Wall Street gains

By Yonhap

Published : Feb. 8, 2024 - 09:37

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An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap) An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap)

South Korean shares opened higher Thursday tracking overnight gains on Wall Street.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 14.08 points, or 0.54 percent, to 2,623.66 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The upbeat start follows overnight advances on Wall Street amid growing expectations of US rate cuts from the second quarter of the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.40 percent while the S&P 500 gained 0.82 percent to close at 4,955.06.

In Seoul, large caps traded mixed.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics lost 0.13 percent, but No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix advanced 0.14 percent.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution added 1.42 percent, while its local rival Samsung SDI surged 2.36 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor was up 1.63 percent, with its smaller affiliate Kia Motors shedding 0.70 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,326.30 won against the US dollar, up 1.50 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)