Stocks open higher on U.S. gains

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Stocks open higher on U.S. gains

Published: 08 Dec. 2023, 10:14

SEO JI-EUN
[email protected]

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show stock and foreign exchange markets open on Friday. [YONHAP]

Stocks got off to a strong start Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street.

The Kospi added 20.03 points, or 0.8 percent, to 2,512.10 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

All three major U.S. indexes gained ground overnight, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite up 1.37 percent, as communication and IT shares rallied on favorable news in the AI sector.

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, jumped more than 5 percent after the launch of its latest AI model, Gemini, and Advanced Micro Devices shot up 9.9 percent after it estimated that the market for data center AI chips could reach $45 billion this year.

In Seoul, big-cap tech shares rallied.

Samsung Electronics rose 0.98 percent, and chipmaker SK hynix jumped 2.47 percent.

Battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 1.64 percent, and its smaller rival Samsung SDI added 1.24 percent.

Steel giant Posco Holdings soared 2.35 percent, and chemical producer LG Chem gained 1.81 percent.

IT and auto stocks were also bullish.

Internet portal operator Naver shot up 2.35 percent, and Kakao, the country's largest mobile messenger operator, advanced 1.39 percent.

Carmaker Hyundai Motor rose 0.82 percent, and its smaller affiliate Kia added 1.18 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,311.30 won against the dollar, up 14 won from the previous session's close.

BY SEO JI-EUN, YONHAP [[email protected]]