Seoul stocks open higher on Wall Street gains

SEOUL, May 15 (Yonhap) -- Seoul stocks opened higher Friday, tracking the overnight gains from Wall Street as investors welcomed the gradual reopening of businesses across the globe, including the United States.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 7.64 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,932.60 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

After trading in negative terrain earlier in the sessions, the Dow Jones Industrial Average eventually advanced 1.62 percent overnight, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.91 percent.

Investors, however, were partly mixed over the looming concerns that another wave of the pandemic may hit the world due to the hasty lifting of lockdowns.

In Seoul, market kingpin Samsung Electronics moved up 0.73 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix added 1.24 percent.

Financial firms also gained ground, with Shinhan Financial moving up 1.21 percent and KB Financial rising 0.65 percent.

Leading Pharmaceutical firm Samsung BioLogics fell 0.49 percent, and Celltrion climbed 0.46 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,227.55 won against the U.S. dollar, up 0.45 won from the previous session's close.

colin@yna.co.kr
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