Seoul: Seoul shares turned higher late Friday morning, supported by institutional buying, although investors still remained cautious as they continued to assess the impact of shifting U.S. tariffs on the earnings of major companies. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 1.44 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,558.05 as of 11:20 a.m.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the main index opened lower, bucking overnight gains on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.21 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite gained 1.52 percent on strong earnings from Microsoft and Meta Platforms. Investors are now watching earnings results from Apple and other major companies for clues about the future direction of the market.
Institutional investors bought a net 111.81 billion won (US$78 million) worth of stocks, offsetting net selling by foreign and retail investors valued at 126.28 billion won and 30.89 billion won, respectively. In Seoul, most large-cap stocks traded lower, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics falling 1.08 percent and top carmaker Hyundai Motor shedding 1 percent. Leading steelmaker POSCO Holdings declined 1.15 percent, while leading shipping firm HMM shed 0.55 percent.
Battery maker LG Energy Solution slipped 0.31 percent, and leading refiner SK Innovation lost 0.85 percent. Among gainers, HD Hyundai Mipo Shipyard rose 3 percent, and state-run utility Korea Electric Power Corp. advanced 0.19 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,433.05 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., down 12.05 won from the previous session.