▲ Traders work inside the dealing room of Hana Bank in central Seoul on July 23, 2026. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, July 23 (Yonhap) -- Seoul stocks were trading sharply higher late Thursday morning, while investors digest the latest earnings release from Google's parent company.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was up 164.22 points, or 2.42 percent, to 6,961.92 as of 11:20 a.m., after rising as high as 7,083.15 points.

Overnight, Alphabet released its second-quarter earnings results, which beat market expectations as its cloud business grew 82 percent on-year.

The company also stated it is raising capital expenditures for the year to meet booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI).

Major U.S. stock indexes closed lower, with the S&P500 inching down 0.14 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq retreating 0.57 percent.

In Seoul, most shares were trading higher.

Market top-cap Samsung Electronics added 2.3 percent, while its industry rival SK hynix advanced 2.19 percent.

Top carmaker Hyundai Motor rose 1.56 percent, shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries jumped 3.98 percent, and defense giant Hanwha Aerospace climbed 5.5 percent.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,467.2 won against the U.S. dollar, up 10.3 won from the previous session.

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