Seoul stocks extend gains late Mon. morning on recovery hopes
SEOUL, July 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korean shares extended gains late Monday morning, as the parliamentary approval of the third extra budget fueled hopes of an early economic recovery.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 27.14 points, or 1.26 percent, to 2,179.55 as of 11:40 a.m.
The gains came after the National Assembly passed a 35.1 trillion-won (US$29.3 billion) extra budget Friday.
The supplementary plan buoyed expectations of a faster rebound of the pandemic-hit economy, along with a slight decrease in new coronavirus infections.
South Korea added 48 new coronavirus infections Monday, down from 61 reported Sunday and 63 on both Friday and Saturday.
Most large caps traded higher.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics gained 1.87 percent as brokerage houses raised the company's quarterly earnings estimate. Samsung's April-June earnings guidance is set to be released Tuesday.
No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix added 1.29 percent.
Top pharmaceutical firm Samsung BioLogics dropped 1.95 percent, while leading chemical maker LG Chem stayed flat.
Internet giant Naver jumped 2.7 percent, and its rival Kakao surged 3.57 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1.197.20 won against the U.S. dollar, up 1.4 won from the previous session's close.
jwc@yna.co.kr
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