Seoul shares up 2.6 pct late Fri. morning on U.S. rallies

SEOUL, Nov. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks continued to trade bullish late Friday morning on overnight Wall Street rallies, largely as weaker-than-expected inflation data in the United States raised speculation of the Federal Reserve going easy on a tightening mode.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had jumped 62.52 points, or 2.6 percent, to 2,464.75 as of 11:20 a.m.

Overnight, the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite surged a jaw-dropping 7.35 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 soared 3.7 percent and 5.54 percent, respectively.

The slower-than-expected U.S. inflation growth in October raised investors' hopes that the Fed may tone down its aggressive rate hikes. The Fed's last rate-decision meeting of the year is set for Dec. 13 and 14.

In Seoul, market bellwether Samsung Electronics swelled 3.48 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix advanced 3.82 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor increased 1.77 percent, and internet portal operator Naver surged 9.09 percent. Chemical giant LG Chem gained 5.04 percent.

The Korean won had been changing hands at 1,341.4 won against the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m., climbing 36.1 won from the previous session's close.

jwc@yna.co.kr
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