stocks-morning

Seoul shares sharply up late Wed. morning on Wall Street gains

SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks rose more than 1 percent late Wednesday morning in line with overnight gains on Wall Street.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed 26.59 points, or 1.04 percent, to 2,595.14 as of 11:20 a.m.

U.S. stock indexes gained ground overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.68 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edging up 0.66 percent, as last week's dovish policy pivot by the Federal Reserve continued to stoke upward market momentum.

In Seoul, blue chips traded higher across the board as institutions and foreign investors scooped up shares.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.82 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix jumped 1.23 percent.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 1.17 percent, and its smaller rival Samsung SDI added 1.89 percent.

Steel giant POSCO Holdings edged up 0.10 percent, and leading chemical producer LG Chem gained 0.20 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor also rose 2.86 percent, and its smaller affiliate Kia soared 3.58 percent. HMM, the country's No. 1 container shipper, surged 4.12 percent following the announcement of its planned sale to Harim Group on Monday.

The local currency was trading at 1,301.95 won against the U.S. dollar, up 5.85 won from the previous session's close.

odissy@yna.co.kr

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