SEOUL: South Korean stocks opened higher on Monday, buoyed by gains in blue-chip steelmakers and insurance companies, analysts said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 4.84 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,045.24 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
POSCO, the country’s No. 1 steelmaker, soared 2.4 percent, with Korea Zinc, a major zinc smelter, adding 0.5 percent.
Top life insurer Samsung Life Insurance gained 1 percent and its non-life insurance affiliate Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance edged up 0.5 percent.
Top-cap Samsung Electronics, in contrast, fell more than 1 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,134.30 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 9.6 won from Friday’s close.
