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(LEAD) KOSPI turns higher, hovering above 8,000-point landmark

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout; CHANGES photo)

SEOUL, May 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks turned higher to breach the landmark 8,000-point level Friday, after opening marginally lower, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street boosted by a rally of artificial intelligence (AI)-relates shares and a positive evaluation of the U.S.-China summit.

After starting 0.37 percent lower, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had added 19.99 points, or 0.25 percent, to a fresh peak of 8,001.4 as of 9:15 a.m.

It took just a little over a week for the index to hit the new milestone after breaching the 7,000-point mark on May 6.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.75 percent higher, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite gained 0.88 percent, and the S&P 500 went up 0.77 percent.

"Major U.S. indexes gained ground with the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping broadly meeting market expectations," said Seo Sang-young, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities.

In their high-stakes meeting in Beijing on Thursday, the leaders of the world's two largest economies agreed that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon and the crucial Strait of Hormuz must remain open, according to a White House official.

On expectations for closer cooperation between Washington and Beijing, major AI-related shares gained ground on Wall Street, with Nvidia jumping 4.39 percent, Broadcom rising 5.52 percent and TSMC adding 4.48 percent.

In Seoul, market top-cap Samsung Electronics started 0.68 percent lower, but its chipmaking rival SK hynix rose 0.61 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor jumped 2.11 percent, and its auto parts-making affiliate Hyundai Mobis expanded 2.31 percent.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution soared 4.3 percent, and its smaller rival Samsung SDI climbed 4.09 percent.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics surged 6.93 percent, while other electrical shares, HD Hyundai Electric and LS Electric, lost 1.66 percent and 2.5 percent.

On the other hand, defense giant Hanwha Aerospace dipped 3.37 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,496.4 won against the U.S. dollar at 9:15 a.m., down 5.4 won from the previous session.

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