Seoul stocks open higher ahead of U.S.-China trade deal

SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks opened sharply higher Tuesday, as investors remain hopeful over the signing of a U.S.-China trade deal later this week and cheered the U.S. removing China from its list of currency manipulators.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 18.51 points, or 0.83 percent, to 2,247.77 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

On Monday (local time), U.S. stocks shot to fresh records ahead of a trade deal agreement with China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.29 percent, the S&P 500 added 0.7 percent, and the Nasdaq composite index was up 1.04 percent.

Also, the U.S. Treasury Department dropped its designation of China as a currency manipulator.

In Seoul, most major caps were in positive terrain.

Market kingpin Samsung Electronics advanced 1.33 percent, with No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix adding 2.49 percent.

In contrast, bio firm Samsung BioLogics lost 0.68 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,151.4 won against the U.S. dollar, up 4.6 won from the previous session's close.

khj@yna.co.kr
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