South Korean stocks got off to a strong start Thursday, cheered by the last-minute progress in talks among U.S. lawmakers to avoid a default, analysts said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped 13.07 points, or 0.64 percent, to 2,047.68 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Shares gathered ground across the board, with Samsung Electronics moving up 0.9 percent and Hyundai Mobis, a blue-chip auto parts maker, rising 1.2 percent.
U.S. markets closed more than 1 percent higher on Wednesday, U.S. time, after the Senate announced a temporary deal to end the political impasse that brought a partial government shutdown and put the world's No. 1 economy on the verge of a default.
The Korean won was trading at 1,065.60 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 0.1 percent from Wednesday's close. (Yonhap News)
