Seoul stocks extend gains late Thurs. morning on tech, auto rally

stocks-morning

Seoul stocks extend gains late Thurs. morning on tech, auto rally

SEOUL, Oct. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korean shares extended gains late Thursday morning, lifted by rallies in technology and automobile stocks amid lingering concerns over the fallout from escalating U.S.-China trade tensions.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 64.18 points, or 1.75 percent, to 3,721.46, as of 11:20 a.m.

Institutional and foreign investors bought a net 327.09 billion won (US$230 million) and 369.05 billion won worth of shares, respectively, while retail investors offloaded a net 671.63 billion won.

Technology and auto stocks led the advance.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 2.58 percent tracking gains on U.S. tech stocks, while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix climbed 5.68 percent.

Top carmaker Hyundai Motor jumped 6.94 percent and its smaller affiliate Kia advanced 6.45 percent.

Among decliners, state-run Korea Gas Corp. fell 0.87 percent and leading budget carrier Jeju Air declined 0.32 percent.

Hanwha Aerospace Industries lost 1.68 percent and Korea Aerospace Industries dropped 2 percent.

The local currency was quoted at 1,418.15 won against the greenback as of 11:20 a.m., up 3.15 won from the previous session's close.

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