Seoul stocks open steeply higher over Fed's tapering

South Korean stocks opened steeply higher Thursday, following the US Federal Reserve's decision to start to taper its bond purchases.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 29.91 points, or 1.01 percent, to 3,005.62 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 1.04 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.29 percent as the Federal Reserve said it will start to taper its massive asset purchases later this month amid the economic recovery.

At a news conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday (local time) the US central bank would be "patient" before hiking the benchmark interest rate.

In Seoul, market bellwether Samsung Electronics increased 1.14 percent to 71,200 won, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix advanced 1.42 percent to 107,000 won, and internet portal operator Naver climbed 2.11 percent to 411,000 won.

Leading car battery firm LG Chem increased 1.15 percent to 793,000 won, and Hyundai Motor, the country's largest carmaker, moved up 1.92 percent at 212,500 won.

Kakao Pay, the mobile payment service arm of Kakao Corp., South Korea's top messenger app, shed 4.92 percent to 183,500 won on its second day of trading on profit-taking.

The local currency was trading at 1,177.8 won against the US dollar, up 3.8 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)