Seoul shares open higher on ongoing U.S.-China talks

SEOUL, Feb. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks started a tad higher on Tuesday as investors awaited the results of the ongoing U.S.-China trade talks.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) edged up 1.05 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,181.78 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics stayed flat and SK hynix, the second biggest share on KOSPI, rose 0.81 percent.

But Kakao, the operator of the country's No. 1 mobile chat application, fell 2.30 percent and Naver, the largest Internet portal operator, lost 1.99 percent.

The South Korean currency was trading at 1,126.45 won against the U.S. dollar, down 1.75 won from the previous session.

brk@yna.co.kr
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