Seoul: South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday, defying overnight losses on Wall Street, as technology shares were fueled by robust earnings from U.S. chip giant Nvidia Corp. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 22.59 points, or 0.85 percent, to 2,692.74 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
According to Yonhap News Agency, U.S. stocks closed lower overnight ahead of Nvidia's highly anticipated earnings release. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.58 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.51 percent. Nvidia reported a 69 percent on-year increase in revenue, reaching US$44.1 billion for the February-April period. It also projected second-quarter revenue of around $45 billion, slightly higher than the previous quarter.
In Seoul, tech, automotive, and shipbuilding stocks led gains. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.54 percent, and chip giant SK hynix jumped 2.16 percent. Top carmaker Hyundai Motor climbed 0.65 percent, its smaller affiliate Kia rose 1.57 percent, and leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai jumped 10.24 percent. Among decliners, leading battery maker LG Energy Solution fell 1.73 percent, and leading refiner SK Innovation edged down 0.12 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,379.95 won against the greenback at 9:15 a.m., down 3.45 won from the previous session.