Korean shares open higher on tech, auto gains

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Korean shares open higher on tech, auto gains

Published: 28 Apr. 2023, 09:39 Updated: 28 Apr. 2023, 14:35

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows stock and foreign exchange markets close on Thursday. [NEWS1]

Stocks opened higher Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, as major chipmakers and platform operators gathered ground on hope of a better outlook.

The Kospi added 6.72 points, or 0.27 percent, to 2,502.53 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, U.S. shares ended higher as Meta Platforms' upbeat quarterly earnings report boosted tech shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.57 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 2.43 percent.

In Seoul, top-cap shares opened mixed.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.93 percent, and chipmaker SK hynix soared 1.91 percent.

Naver jumped 1.97 percent, and Kakao advanced 2.33 percent

Battery and chemical shares fell on profit-taking.

LG Energy Solution went down 1.19 percent, and LG Chem shed 0.81 percent. Samsung SDI lost 1.42 percent.

Carmakers also opened lower, with Hyundai Motor falling 1.19 percent and Kia skidding 1.04 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,338.70 won against the dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 0.7 won from the previous session's close.

Yonhap