Seoul: South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, a day after the presidential election. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 40.94 points, or 1.52 percent, to 2,739.91 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the overnight performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average reflected a gain of 0.51 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.81 percent. The South Korean election saw Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the liberal Democratic Party, secure victory over Kim Moon-soo of the conservative People Power Party, following the ousting of former President Yoon Suk Yeol after martial law was imposed in December. Lee commenced his five-year term earlier in the day, following the National Election Commission (NEC)'s approval of his victory in a plenary session.
In Seoul, most large-cap stocks saw an upward trend. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.26 percent, and chip giant SK hynix saw a significant increase of 5.78 percent. Top automaker Hyundai Motor climbed 0.49 percent, with its sister affiliate Kia jumping 1.24 percent. Leading steelmaker POSCO Holdings rose 1.23 percent, while Korea Aerospace Industries, the country's sole aircraft manufacturer, jumped 5.97 percent.
Among decliners, POSCO's smaller rival Hyundai Steel fell 0.73 percent, and leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries shed 3.86 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,376.55 won against the greenback at 9:15 a.m., down 3.45 won from the previous session.