SEOUL: South Korean stocks opened higher Friday as overnight Wall Street gains boosted investor sentiment, analysts said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 6.81 points, or 0.33 percent, to 2,048.69 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Most blue chips started in positive territory with brokerage issues leading the gains.
KDB Daewoo Securities jumped 3.87 percent and Mirae Asset Securities rose 2.47 percent.
Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T got off to a strong start by rising 1.75 percent and 2.17 percent, respectively, amid legal disputes with a hedge fund over their planned merger. Steelmaking giant POSCO also rose 1.86 percent.
Wall Street rallied as a statement by the U.S. Federal Reserve was interpreted as dovish on interest rates. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1 percent.
The South Korean won was trading at 1,106.05 won against the greenback as of 9:15 a.m., up 1.05 won from the previous session’s close.
