Seoul stocks open higher on Wall Street gains

SEOUL, Feb. 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday, apparently tracking overnight gains on Wall Street.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 13.16 points, or 0.59 percent, to 2,251.54 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The strong start follows overnight gains on Wall Street on a growing market confidence that the impact of the new coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. may be limited.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.94 percent to close at a new record high of 29,551.42, with the tech-heavy NASDAQ index also climbing 0.90 percent to a new high of 9,725.96.

In Seoul, large caps traded mixed.

Market kingpin Samsung Electronics surged 1.49 percent, with No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix spiking 2.5 percent.

Leading carmaker Hyundai Motor remained flat, while top portal operator Naver slipped 0.27 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,181.55 won against the U.S. dollar, down 2.05 won from the previous session's close.

bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)