Seoul stocks up late Tue. morning on economic reopening hopes

SEOUL, June 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks continued to trade higher late Tuesday morning on hopes prompted by economic reopening in major countries, including the United States, which helped offset concerns over U.S.-Sino friction.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 10.34 points, or 0.50 percent, to 2,075.42 as of 11:20 a.m.

The advance was mainly attributed to overnight gains on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 91.91 points, or 0.36 percent, to close at 25,475.02 on Monday (New York time).

Hopes of an economic recovery outrun growing concerns over the spreading protests in the U.S. and the political tension between the world's two largest economies that followed Beijing's passing of a new national security law for Hong Kong.

"Despite the political pressure from the protests in the U.S., we are still seeing market expectations that the post-lockdown economic recovery will pick up down the road," said Kim Yong-gu, an analyst at Hana Financial Investment.

"In such a mood, IT software and bio stocks seem likely to lead the (South Korean) market," he added.

The U.S. and China are South Korea's two largest trade partners.

In Seoul, large caps traded mixed.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics stayed flat, while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix slipped 0.84 percent.

Top pharmaceutical firm Samsung BioLogics dipped 0.64 percent, with leading automaker Hyundai Motor climbing 1.50 percent and Kia Motors spiking 4.62 percent.

Leading steelmaker POSCO jumped 2.47 percent, while rechargeable battery maker Samsung SDI advanced 1.78 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,225.50 won against the U.S. dollar, down 0.50 won from the previous session's close.

jwc@yna.co.kr
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