Seoul stocks trim gains late Friday morning

SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks pared earlier gains late Friday morning after a strong start due to tensions in the Middle East.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 5.03 points, or 0.23 percent, to 2,180.20 as of 11:20 a.m.

Seoul stocks opened sharply higher, tracking strong overnight gains on Wall Street.

U.S. stocks rose to fresh highs on the first trading day of the new year on the news that China's central bank will add more liquidity to stimulate the economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.9 percent to 28,868.80, while the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.3 percent to close at 9,092.19.

Top cap Samsung Electronics advanced 0.54 percent, and No. 2 memory chip maker SK hynix gained 0.84 percent.

South Korea's No. 1 automaker, Hyundai Motor, however, lost 0.42 percent, while its auto parts affiliate Hyundai Mobis fell 0.40 percent.

Top steelmaker POSCO rose 1.48 percent, but leading pharmaceutical firm Celltrion slid 0.56 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,162.60 won against the U.S. dollar, down 4.50 won from the previous session's close.
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