South Korean stocks began higher Thursday as remarks by the U.S. Federal Reserve chief candidate suggesting the stimulus tapering will not happen soon cheered investors, analysts said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) soared 14.48 points, or 0.74 percent, to 1,978.04 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Shares gathered ground across the board, with techs and autos leading the climb. Market behemoth Samsung Electronics gained 1.7 percent, with SK hynix hiking 2.4 percent. Hyundai Motor advanced 1 percent.
Janet Yellen, the likely successor to current Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, said in an introductory statement released on Thursday (U.S. time) that the Fed still has more work to do to fuel the slowly recovering economy.
Investors on Wall Street took her remarks as an indication that the U.S. central bank won't start the stimulus cut in December as widely speculated and bought shares, sending main indexes to record highs.
The Korean currency was trading at 1,067.40 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 5.2 won from Wednesday's close. (Yonhap News)
