SEOUL: South Korean stocks started off strong Thursday, propped up by gains in blue chip shares, analysts said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 7.98 points, or 0.39 percent, to 2,042.84 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics stepped up 0.56 percent and top mobile carrier SK Telecom climbed 0.2 percent. Tech solutions provider Samsung SDS also moved up 3.73 percent.
Cosmetics maker AmorePacific added 1.92 percent, and portal-operating giant Naver gained 0.32 percent.
The South Korean won was trading at 1,112.95 won against the greenback as of 9:15 a.m., up 4.95 won from the previous session’s close.
