[
THE INVESTOR] South Korean shares gained slightly in late morning trade Aug. 18 on eased worries about a possible US rate hike and a rebound in Samsung Electronics.
The benchmark KOSPI gained 4.01 points, or 0.2 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 jumped 2.23 percent to a record high of 1,601,000 won (US$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 declined 1.35 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,104.65 won against the US dollar, strengthening 3.65 won from the previous session’s close.
(
theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)
