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An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Friday. (Yonhap) |
South Korean shares opened slightly higher Friday, taking a cue from overnight gains on Wall Street.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) added 4.09 points, or 0.16 percent, to 2,613.39 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.37 percent to close at 43,239.05, marking a new high for a second consecutive session on reports of better-than-anticipated consumer spending.
The U.S. Department of Commerce reported that the value of retail sales increased 0.4 percent from a month earlier in September, rising from 0.1 percent on-month growth the previous month and beating market expectations of a 0.3 percent increase.
In Seoul, large caps were mixed.
Market bellwether and tech giant Samsung Electronics added 0.5 percent, while its chipmaking rival SK hynix tumbled 1.68 percent.
Top battery maker LG Energy Solution lost 0.63 percent, but its local rival Samsung SDI advanced 0.3 percent.
Leading automaker Hyundai Motor stayed flat, while its smaller affiliate Kia Motors shed 0.11 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,370.85 won against the U.S. dollar, down 2.25 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)
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