Seoul stocks edge up late Friday morning

SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks traded higher Friday morning on the back of gains in the tech and chemical shares.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 18.26 points, or 0.74 percent, to 2,484.72 as of 11:20 a.m.

Market kingpin Samsung Electronics was up 1.29 percent, and SK hynix, a major chipmaker, advanced 2.72 percent.

LG Chem, South Korea's top chemical company, added 1.64 percent, and AmorePacific, the country's No. 1 cosmetics maker, traded 0.17 percent higher.

Other market heavyweights also remained in positive terrain, with leading automaker Hyundai Motor edging up 0.68 percent and steelmaker POSCO increasing 0.27 percent.

Naver, the largest online portal operator here, surrendered 0.11 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,061.90 won against the U.S. dollar, up 0.3 won from the previous session's close.

scaaet@yna.co.kr
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