SEOUL: South Korean stocks traded 0.92 percent higher late Monday morning, buoyed by gains in blue-chip brokerages and cosmetics firms, analysts said.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 19.25 points to 2,104.77 as of 11:20 a.m.
No. 1 brokerage house KDB Daewoo Securities surged nearly 5 percent and top cosmetics maker Amore Pacific hiked 3.6 percent.
In contrast, telecom companies and steelmakers moved in negative territory. Top mobile carrier SK Telecom was down more than 2 percent, with zinc smelter Korea Zinc falling 1 percent.
The local currency was changing hands at 1,089.65 won against the greenback as of 11:20 a.m., down 1.35 won from Friday’s close.
