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Kospi shares open higher on eve of presidential election

Published: 02 Jun. 2025, 10:15

Employees work at the dealing room of Hana Bank's headquarters in Jung District, central Seoul, on June 2. [YONHAP]

Korean stocks opened higher Monday, led by tech gains, one day before the presidential election.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 18.75 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,716.42 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Korean voters were set to cast their ballots to choose a president on Tuesday, after former President Yoon Suk Yeol was ousted following the imposition of martial law in December.

Front-runner Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party was vying against Kim Moon-soo of the conservative People Power Party.

Eyes are also on developments of the U.S. tariff policy, after Trump said last week that he planned to double tariffs on foreign imports of steel to 50 percent.

Trump also said that China "totally violated" a tariff agreement, renewing concerns about trade conflicts between the world's two largest economies.

Most top-cap shares opened higher.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics surged 1.78 percent, and chip giant SK hynix soared 1.71 percent.

Major bio firm Samsung Biologics added 0.87 percent, and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution advanced 0.7 percent.

Defense giant Hanwha Aerospace spiked 2.96 percent, and shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy jumped 3.58 percent.

But carmakers lost ground. Top automaker Hyundai Motor edged down 0.16 percent, and its sister affiliate Kia lost 0.11 percent.

No. 1 steelmaker Posco Holdings dipped 1.2 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,377.7 won against the greenback at 9:15 a.m., up 2.4 won from the previous session.

Yonhap