Seoul shares up late Tues. morning on tech, auto gains

SEOUL, South Korean stocks traded sharply higher late Tuesday morning, led by gains from tech and auto shares. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 26.58 points, or 0.97 percent, to 2,770.68 as of 11:20 a.m. The KOSPI had opened in positive territory, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street due to the robust performance of tech companies, such as Apple and Microsoft. In Seoul, chipmakers were bullish as Samsung Electronics, the world's biggest memory chip producer, increased 2.56 percent and its rival SK hynix jumped 3.59 percent. Top automaker Hyundai Motor and its sister Kia gained 3.59 percent and 3.49 percent, respectively, after news that its Indian unit is set for an initial public offering. SK, the holding company of SK Group, fell 4.01 percent after its Chairman Chey Tae-won claimed a "critical error" in his record divorce ruling the previous day. The local currency was trading at 1,380.4 won against the U.S. dollar, up 0.8 won from the previous session's close. Source: Yonhap News Agency