▲ A dealing room at Hana Bank in Seoul on Feb. 13, 2026 (Yonhap)

stocks-morning

Seoul stocks up late Fri. morning, moving toward new high

SEOUL, Feb. 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks traded higher late Friday morning, inching toward a new high after breaching the landmark 5,500-point mark the previous day.

After starting marginally lower, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 24.5 points, or 0.44 percent, to 5,546.77 as of 11:20 a.m., continuing its bullish run one day after hitting the 5,500-point milestone for the first time.

Tech giant Samsung Electronics increased 1.29 percent, surpassing the 180,000 won (US$125) mark for the first time, with preferred stocks of the company soaring 6.14 percent.

Another semiconductor heavyweight SK hynix rose 0.45 percent.

Artificial intelligence (AI) investment firm SK Square climbed 1.58 percent.

Their strong performance came despite overnight losses on Wall Street sparked by concerns related to AI's impact across various industries.

Power plant manufacturer Doosan Enerbility jumped 2.83 percent, and major shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy escalated 2.41 percent.

On the other hand, leading battery maker LG Energy Solution shed 2.56 percent, and auto giant Hyundai Motor dipped 0.99 percent.

Defense giant Hanwha Aerospace went down 0.97 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,444.0 won against the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m., down 3.8 won from the previous session.

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