Seoul shares up 0.20% in late morning trade

South Korean stocks extended gains late Thursday morning helped by eased worries about a possible US rate hike and rebound in the shares of Samsung Electronics Co.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 4.01 points, or 0.20 percent, to 2,047.76 as of 11:20 a.m.

The rise followed overnight gains on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.12 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index climbing 0.03 percent.

Large-cap stocks were mixed across the board. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. jumped 2.23 percent to a record high of 1.601,000 won ($1,450), a day before the global release of its Galaxy Note 7 phablet.

Global chipmaker SK hynix advanced 0.15 percent.

Meanwhile, top automaker Hyundai Motor was down 1.85 percent and top auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis Co. declined 1.35 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,104.65 won against the US dollar, up 3.65 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)