Seoul shares up late Fri. morning on chip rally

SEOUL, May 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks traded higher late Friday morning as top-cap chip shares rose sharply on hopes for a market turnaround.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index had added 8.9 points, or 0.35 percent, to 2,563.59 as of 11:20 a.m.

The index opened slightly higher and managed to maintain the momentum on solid buying by foreign investors.

Investors picked up shares of major semiconductor companies here, after U.S. chipmaker Nvidia surged more than 24 percent Thursday (U.S. time) as the company posted stronger-than-expected revenue guidance. The strong performance led the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite to jump 1.71 percent.

In Seoul, tech heavyweight Samsung Electronics jumped 2.33 percent, and chip giant SK hynix spiked 4.83 percent.

But large-cap battery and auto shares lost ground amid lingering concerns about negotiations on the U.S. debt ceiling to avoid a federal default.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution shed 0.51 percent, and top chemicals maker LG Chem fell 0.98 percent. Another battery maker Samsung SDI went down 0.29 percent.

No. 1 automaker Hyundai Motor decreased 0.74 percent and its affiliate Kia lost 0.23 percent.

Internet giant Naver sank 0.97 percent following recent sharp losses, and Kakao, the operator of the popular mobile messenger KakaoTalk, remained unchanged.

The local currency was changing hands at 1,325.95 won against the greenback at 11:20 a.m., up 0.05 won from the previous session's close.

graceoh@yna.co.kr
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