▲ A dealing room at Hana Bank in central Seoul on July 18, 2025. (Yonhap)

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Seoul shares open higher on tech gains

SEOUL, July 21 (Yonhap) -- Seoul shares kicked off higher Monday, led by gains in big-cap tech shares, amid lingering concerns over the United States' tariff scheme.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 15.83 points, or 0.5 percent, to 3,203.90 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

On Friday, Wall Street closed mixed as concerns over the Trump administration's tariff policies offset the risky appetite brewed by strong U.S. retail sales data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.32 percent, and the S&P 500 edged down 0.01 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite inched up 0.05 percent.

Over the weekend, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Aug. 1 is a "hard deadline" for Washington's reciprocal tariffs, pressuring its major trading partners to swiftly come up with terms of trade negotiations.

In Seoul, tech giant Samsung Electronics jumped 2.09 percent, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix rose 0.37 percent.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 0.93 percent, and defense powerhouse Hanwha Aerospace went up 0.89 percent.

Major biopharmaceutical firm Celltrion advanced 1.33 percent, and steel giant POSCO Holdings escalated 2.25 percent.

On the other hand, South Korea's biggest shipper HMM declined 1.2 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor and leading internet portal operator Naver were both flat.

The local currency was trading at 1,389.9 won against the U.S. dollar at 9:15 a.m., up 3.1 won from the previous session.

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