Seoul shares started higher Tuesday, led by gains in chipmakers and autos, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street. Following a fourth straight session of decline, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 32.30 points, or 1.17 percent, to 2,795.81 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, major U.S. indexes gained ground as big-cap tech shares, including Nvidia, ASML, Microsoft and Alphabet, rebounded after their slump last week. In Seoul, market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 1.69 percent and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix gained 1.71 percent. Top automaker Hyundai Motor jumped 2.35 percent and its smaller affiliate Kia soared 2.93 percent. Its auto-parts making affiliate Hyundai Mobis also shot up 2.71 percent. Samsung C and T, a trading firm, also advanced more than 2.4 percent. Financial shares kicked off strong, with KB Financial up 0.81 percent and Hana Financial up 1.1 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,387.00 won against the U.S. dollar at 9:15 a.m., up 1.20 won from the previous session's close. Source: Yonhap News Agency
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