▲ This photo shows a financial index screen at the dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul on Feb. 26, 2026. (Yonhap)

stocks-morning

Seoul shares sharply up late Thurs. morning on tech gains

SEOUL, Feb. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks rose nearly 2 percent late Thursday morning as investors scooped up tech shares amid eased concerns over the future of artificial intelligence (AI) following Nvidia's strong earnings report.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 120.5 points, or 1.98 percent, to 6,208.24 as of 11:20 a.m.

Overnight, U.S. stocks finished higher as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.63 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 1.26 percent.

In Seoul, chip and IT shares traded bullish as Nvidia's better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings renewed optimism over the AI technology's potential benefits.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics jumped 5.41 percent and chip giant SK hynix advanced 2.06 percent.

LG Electronics soared 10.13 percent after Nvidia mentioned the Korean company as a partner for its physical AI business.

IT giant Naver vaulted 4.15 percent and leading mobile carrier SK Telecom mounted 0.25 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,422.1 won against the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m., up 7.2 won from the previous session.

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