Seoul shares up over 2 pct. late Thu. morning on tech rally

Seoul shares extended earlier gains late Thursday morning as tech stocks advanced, with hopes for additional rate cuts by the Federal Reserve buoying investor sentiment. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 2.08 percent, or 54.10 points, to 2,650.42 as of 11:20 a.m. Overnight, U.S. stocks ended mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7 percent to 41,914.75, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.04 percent to 18,082.21. On Wednesday (U.S. time), a Federal Reserve official said it will be appropriate for the U.S. central bank to make additional rate cuts if inflation continues to ease as expected. Earlier this month, the Fed reduced its key rate by a half percentage point, putting an end to its post-pandemic tightening cycle. Institutions and foreigners bought a combined 720.38 billion won worth of stocks, offsetting individuals' stock selling valued at 693.76 billion won. In Seoul, tech stocks were lead gainers. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. rose 3.9 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. jumped 8.9 percent, top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. gained 0.6 percent, state utility Korea Electric Power Corp. climbed 2.1 percent, and logistics firm Hyundai Glovis Co. was up 2.2 percent. SK hynix shares surged on news it began volume production of a 12-layer memory chip known as HBM3E, a more advanced version of the current chips for artificial intelligence. Among decliners, leading shipping firm HMM fell 0.8 percent, leading battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. shed 1.2 percent, and leading cosmetics firm Amorepacific Corp. retreated 2.6 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,328.95 won against the U.S. dollar, up 2.05 won from the previous session. Source: Yonhap News Agency