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

stocks-morning

Seoul shares turn higher late Wed. morning on autos, techs

SEOUL, May 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks turned higher late Wednesday morning, rebounding from a sharp loss earlier in the day, as retail investors moved to purchase blue-chip shares, including Hyundai Motor and SK hynix.

After opening 1.69 percent lower, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had added 86.56 points, or 1.13 percent, to 7,729.71 as of 11:20 a.m.

The KOSPI snapped its five-day winning streak Tuesday, after rising as high as 7,999.67 during intraday trading, as investors moved to take profits after a record-breaking run led by large-cap tech shares, including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.

Investors' risk appetite was further sapped due to overnight losses of semiconductor shares on Wall Street and a rise in U.S. inflation in April, mainly due to high oil prices amid the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.

Market attention was also being placed on whether unionized workers of Samsung Electronics will decide to go ahead with a general strike after the company's labor union and management failed to narrow their differences over performance-based bonuses through government-led mediation talks held overnight.

Amid such concerns, the KOSPI kicked off sharply lower, but retail investors turned the index higher, purchasing 1.67 trillion won (US$1.1 billion) as of 11:20 a.m. Institutions also scooped up local shares worth 911.5 billion won, while foreign investors continued their sell-off, unloading 2.67 trillion won.

Top-cap Samsung Electronics was down 0.18 percent, erasing most of its losses after starting more than 5 percent lower. Its chipmaking rival SK hynix jumped 4.03 percent, rebounding from a 2.18 percent loss.

AI investment firm SK Square added 2.58 percent.

Auto shares were particularly bullish, with Hyundai Motor surging 7.89 percent and its sister Kia rising 4.22 percent. Hyundai's auto parts-making affiliate Hyundai Mobis skyrocketed 20.26 percent.

Major shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy also rose 1.98 percent, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics soared 6.68 percent. Battery maker Samsung SDI added 1.91 percent.

On the other hand, LG Energy Solution, another battery maker, was down 1.47 percent, and power plant manufacturer Doosan Enerbility slid 3.98 percent.

Trading firm Samsung C&T slipped 3.22 percent, and bio giant Samsung Biologics lost 2.29 percent.

Defense powerhouse Hanwha Aerospace dropped 1.32 percent, and HD Hyundai Electric went down 2.22 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,498.1 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., down 8.2 won from the previous session.

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