▲ Financial data is displayed on a screen at the dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul on Sept. 7, 2026. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks traded sharply higher late Monday morning as investors scooped up semiconductor shares on optimism on further artificial intelligence (AI)-related demand.

Opening 3.34 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was trading up 198.88 points, or 2.97 percent, to 6,886.09, as of 11:20 a.m.

Wall Street closed lower Friday, but the PHLX semiconductor index rose 3.38 percent on the release of OpenAI's new GPT-6 Astra, which is expected to boost demand for memory chips.

In Seoul, tech shares traded in positive territory.

Chip giant Samsung Electronics rose 3.91 percent, and its rival SK hynix jumped 5.4 percent.

SK Square, the parent of SK hynix, soared 5.67 percent, and Hanmi Semiconductor, a leading chip equipment firm, vaulted 5.43 percent.

Energy company Doosan Enerbility climbed 5.93 percent and entertainment giant CJ ENM added 3.48 percent.

However, leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries fell 0.11 percent and major pharma Celltrion declined 0.96 percent.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,344.15 won against the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m., up 5.65 won from the close of the previous stock trading session.

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