stocks-morning

Seoul shares up 1.8 pct late Tue. morning on Trump's tariff delay

SEOUL, Feb. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks climbed 1.8 percent late Tuesday morning as investors picked up blue chips following Washington's decision to postpone the imposing of tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed 44.21 points, or 1.8 percent, to 2,498.16 as of 11:20 a.m.

On Monday, the KOSPI plummeted 2.52 percent amid concerns over the United States' decision last week to impose high tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico, potentially affecting South Korean businesses operating there.

U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to pause impositions of tariffs on Canada and Mexico for a month, as the two countries unveiled new plans to fend off drug trafficking at their borders.

Blue chips gained ground across the board, with market heavyweight Samsung Electronics surging 4.31 percent and consumer electronics rival LG Electronics adding 0.9 percent.

Automotive and financial shares also advanced. Hyundai Motor and Kia rose 2.48 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively, while KB Financial climbed 2.82 percent.

Tech giant Kakao gained 0.36 percent following a collaboration announcement with U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) company OpenAI.

Gaming company Krafton also jumped 1.39 percent following news of a meeting between executives and OpenAI founder Sam Altman in Seoul to discuss potential cooperation.

The local currency was trading at 1,459.75 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., up 7.45 won from the previous session.

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