Korean stocks trade higher late Friday morning

SEOUL, April 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks continued to trade higher late Friday morning, despite trimming earlier gains that partly came on a recovery in global oil prices.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 3.78 points, or 0.22 percent, to 1,728.64 as of 11:20 a.m.

The index opened sharply higher, adding 0.75 percent in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The solid start followed overnight gains on Wall Street, where a recovery in global oil prices helped ease investor concerns.

U.S. President Donald Trump said his country was in discussions with Saudi Arabia and Russia to cut their crude output by up to 15 million barrels per day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average spiked 2.24 percent to close at 21,413.44.

In Seoul, large caps traded mixed.

Market kingpin Samsung Electronics gained 0.64 percent, but No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix lost 0.50 percent.

Top pharmaceutical company Samsung BioLogics spiked 1.72 percent, while leading automaker Hyundai Motor shed 0.46 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,229.60 won against the U.S. dollar, down 1.30 won from the previous session's close.

bdk@yna.co.kr
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