Seoul shares open higher on U.S. gains amid rate woes

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Seoul shares open higher on U.S. gains amid rate woes

Published: 16 Feb. 2023, 10:29 Updated: 16 Feb. 2023, 10:43

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows stock and foreign exchange markets open on Thursday. [YONHAP]

Seoul shares opened higher Thursday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, amid concerns over the U.S. Federal Reserve's continued rate hikes to tame inflation.

The benchmark Kospi rose 22 points, or 0.91 percent, to 2,449.90 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1 percent to 34,128.05 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.9 percent to 12,070.59.

Investors now await U.S. employment data to be released Thursday to take a cue in their future investment directions, following hotter-than-expected inflation data.

The U.S. Consumer Price Index data showed prices rose at a higher-than-expected clip of 0.5 percent in January. The Fed said it is not done yet in its monetary tightening to bring down inflation.

In Seoul, most large-cap stocks advanced.

Samsung Electronics rose 0.6 percent, chipmaker SK hynix climbed 0.3 percent, national flag carrier Korean Air gained 1.1 percent, and carmaker Hyundai Motor gained 1.3 percent.

Among decliners, wireless services provider SK Telecom fell 2.7 percent, fixed line services firm KT dropped 2.7 percent, and K-pop agency Hybe dropped 1 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,284.5 won against the dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 2.3 won from the previous session's close.

Yonhap