Kospi opens sharply higher on chip rally

Stocks opened sharply higher Thursday, led by gains in major chipmakers, tracking overnight gains in U.S. technology stocks.

The benchmark  Kospi opened 194.88 points, or 2.96 percent, higher at 6,773.92.

Overnight, U.S. stocks tied to the AI technology sector rose.

The S&P 500 gained 0.26 percent, closing just shy of a record high, while the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.54 percent. In contrast, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 0.04 percent.

In Seoul, most large-cap shares traded higher.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics increased 5.19 percent, while its chipmaking rival SK hynix jumped 7.71 percent.

SK Square, the parent of SK hynix, shot up 10.16 percent and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, an electronics component affiliate of Samsung Electronics, shot up 13.18 percent.

The Korean won rose 3.9 won from the close of stock trading the previous day to trade at 1,414.6 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m. 

Yonhap