Seoul stocks spike more than 1 pct late Tuesday morning

SEOUL, Feb. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks were sharply up late Tuesday morning, extending earlier gains on hope of stimulus measures by China to minimize the fallout from the outbreak of the new coronavirus.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) spiked 30.42 points, or 1.38 percent, to 2,231.49 as of 11:20 a.m.

The index earlier opened higher, gaining 13.0 points or 0.59 percent in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The advance came after U.S. stocks jumped overnight following upbeat data and hopes for China's stimulus measures to buffer economic fallout from the fast spread of the new coronavirus.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 0.60 percent to close at 29,276.82 points.

In Seoul, most large caps were in positive terrain.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics added 1.34 percent while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix surged 1.72 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor spiked 3.85 percent, with its smaller affiliate Kia Motors jumping 3.44 percent.

The two automakers earlier said they have partially resumed their vehicle production on parts arriving from Southeast Asian countries. Their assembly lines had been completely suspended since Friday due to shortage of parts from Chinese suppliers.

The local currency was trading at 1,184.60 won against the U.S. dollar, up 2.50 won from the previous session's close.

bdk@yna.co.kr
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