SEOUL: South Korean stocks got off to a strong start Thursday, boosted by gains in large caps including auto, brokerage and tech shares, and analysts said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 10.87 points, or 0.51 percent, to 2,154.76 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Major issues started higher, with auto and brokerage companies among marked gainers.
Hyundai Motor opened higher ahead of its first-quarter earnings results due out in the afternoon. Kia Motors also traded in positive territory.
Brokerages opened higher, led by KDB Daewoo Securities and Mirae Asset Securities, both of which gained over 1 percent.
SK hynix, the country’s No. 2 chipmaker, jumped over 2 percent on the announcement of its better-than-expected earnings results for the first quarter.
The local currency was changing hands at 1,083.35 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 3.75 won from Wednesday’s close.
