Kospi rises 1% as U.S. recession fears ease
Shares opened higher Monday on eased woes over a U.S. recession after last week's rout.
The Kospi added 26.81 points, or 1.04 percent, to 2,615.24 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Major U.S. indexes finished higher Friday following a rout as recession woes diminished thanks to better-than-expected unemployment data.
Investors' eyes are now on the U.S. consumer price, producer price and retail sales data due out later this week.
In Seoul, most big-cap shares started in positive territory to recover from last week's slump.
Samsung Electronics increased 1.07 percent, and SK hynix added 1.92 percent.
Battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 1.86 percent, and Samsung SDI jumped 3.39 percent. Posco Future M soared 3.89 percent.
Automaker Hyundai Motor advanced 2.06 percent, and Kia gained 0.59 percent.
But Naver shed 1.89 percent, and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries slid 2.83 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,364.20 won against the dollar, down 0.4 won from the previous session's close.
BY KIM JU-YEON, YONHAP [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]