▲ An employee is seen smiling in front of a screen inside the dealing room in Hana Bank of central Seoul on Feb. 2, 2026. (Yonhap)

stocks-morning

Stocks sharply higher Tues. morning; triggers temporary halt in trading

SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks were trading sharply higher late Tuesday morning on bargain hunting, triggering the country's main bourse operator to temporary halt trading.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 231.74 points, or 4.68 percent, to 5,181.41 as of 11:20 a.m.

The KOSPI recovered from the previous session's sharp fall, as institutional and foreign investors snapped up market heavyweights.

Amid the sharp rise in equities, South Korea's main bourse operator, the Korea Exchange (KRX), issued a buy-side circuit breaker for five minutes in early trading.

It came a day after the KRX temporarily suspended the selling of stocks due to steep declines.

Overnight, stocks on Wall Street closed higher on an upbeat manufacturing purchasing managers index for January, which indicated a growth in the manufacturing sector in the United States.

Investors are keeping an eye on the impact of the recent nomination of the Federal Reserve chair, as well as escalating trade tensions.

In Seoul, most large cap shares were trading higher.

Market heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK hynix jumped 6.58 percent and 7.83 percent, respectively.

Top car maker Hyundai Motor added 1.57 percent, defense giant Hanwha Aerospace moved up 3.95 percent, and major financial group KB Financial edged up 2.92 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,448.8 won against the U.S. dollar, up 15.5 won from the previous session.

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