Seoul stocks open sharply higher tracking Wall Street gains

SEOUL, March 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks opened sharply higher Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street boosted by historic stimulus measures amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 62.47 points, or 3.7 percent, to 1,748.71 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

U.S. stocks rallied for a third straight day Thursday (local time) after the Senate passed a US$2 trillion relief package to tackle the economic fallout from the COVID-19 crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 6.2 percent to close at 22,552.17 points. The rally came as U.S. unemployment data showed that a record 3.3 million Americans had applied for unemployment benefits last week.

In Seoul, most large-cap shares got off to a solid start.

Top cap Samsung Electronics moved up 2.62 percent, and major chipmaker SK hynix surged 5.08 percent.

No. 1 automaker Hyundai Motor jumped 4.59 percent, while auto parts producer Hyundai Mobis advanced 5.39 percent.

Pharmaceutical shares were also strong, with Celltrion rising 3.58 percent and Samsung BioLogics climbing 1.64 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,215.5 won against the U.S. dollar, sharply up 17.3 won from the previous session's close.

kdon@yna.co.kr
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