Seoul shares extend gains on strong tech performance

South Korean stocks continued to trade higher late Thursday morning, buoyed by advances in tech shares that were tracking record high finishes on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) surged 39.5 points, or 1.45 percent, to 2,767.67 as of 11:20 a.m. The index had opened sharply higher, surging more than 1 percent in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.09 percent to finish at 37,712.21 on Wednesday (U.S. time), but the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 1.53 percent to reach a new high for the third consecutive session, while the S and P 500 also advanced 0.85 percent to a record high. In Seoul, most large caps were up, with market kingpin and tech giant Samsung Electronics spiking 2.61 percent. SK hynix, the world's No. 2 maker of memory chips, surged 3.72 percent, with top portal operator Naver advancing 1.48 percent. Leading automaker Hyundai Motor added 2.22 percent, while its smaller affiliate Kia Motors gained 2.04 percent. The local curren cy was trading at 1,372.50 won against the U.S. dollar, up 3.70 won from the previous session's close. Source: Yonhap News Agency