Seoul shares extend gains on tech rebound

Seoul, Oct 21 (IANS) Seoul shares extended gains on Wednesday, led by a rebound in technology stocks, despite concerns over heavy investment in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.

After opening 2.05 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 227.93 points, or 4.1 percent, to 5,780.67 as of 11:20 am, reports Yonhap news agency.

The main index rebounded after falling nearly 4 per cent in the previous session.

Institutions and foreigners bought a net 148.32 billion won (US$112 million) and 320.52 billion won worth of stocks, respectively. Retail investors sold a net 1 trillion won.

Overnight, U.S. stocks closed mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.02 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite slipped 0.02 percent.

Strong earnings from some technology companies helped revive investor interest in tech stocks, with investors turning their attention to earnings reports from Meta Platforms and other technology companies due this week.

The Korea Exchange (KRX) activated a buy-side sidecar for the KOSPI market at 10:51 a.m. after a sharp rise in the KOSPI 200 Futures Index, temporarily suspending program trading orders for five minutes.

In Seoul, technology stocks led the gains.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics jumped 7.09 percent, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix climbed 7.2 percent.

National flag carrier Korean Air gained 1.9 percent, and Hyundai Steel was up 2.14 percent.

Among decliners, top carmaker Hyundai Motor fell 0.16 percent and leading steelmaker POSCO Holdings declined 0.33 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,327.1 won against the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m., down 1.1 won from the previous session’s close.

Programme trading for the KOSPI-listed shares was suspended for five minutes at 10:51 a.m., according to the Korea Exchange (KRX).

A buy-side sidecar is triggered when the KOSPI 200 Futures Index rises 5 percent or more for at least one minute.

—IANS

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