Seoul shares tad up late Fri. morning on U.S. gains

Seoul shares traded slightly higher late Friday morning, as chip shares gained traction bolstered by overnight success on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 0.08 percent, or 2.09 points, as of 11:20 a.m. Overnight, major U.S. indexes gained ground thanks to the surprise earnings result of Micron Technology, lifting artificial intelligence-related shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.62 percent, the S and P 500 increased 0.4 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite soared 0.6 percent. In Seoul, semiconductor shares led the overall gains, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics and industry rival SK hynix adding 0.31 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively. Financial and steel shares also gained momentum. Kookmin Financial surged 4.19 percent, and POSCO Holdings rose 1.7 percent. In contrast, bio and automotive shares lost ground. Celltrion slipped 2.33 percent, and Hyundai Motor shed 0.39 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,318.5 won against the U.S. dollar, up 8.7 won from the previous session. Source: Yonhap News Agency