Seoul: South Korean stocks started lower Thursday on lingering tariff woes despite the better-than-expected quarterly results of artificial intelligence chip giant Nvidia. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 11.19 points, or 0.42 percent, to 2,629.90 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Wall Street finished mixed overnight ahead of the Nvidia results, which were released after the market closed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.43 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.26 percent. After the closing bell, Nvidia reported US$22 billion in net income and $39.3 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter that ended in late January, on rising demand for its new top-of-the-line Blackwell processors, beating market expectations.
In Seoul, most shares started in mixed territory. Top carmaker Hyundai Motor dropped 2.2 percent and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution declined 1.47 percent. Hana Financial Group fell 3.2 percent, and major pharmaceutical firm Celltrion lost 2.32 percent. SK hynix, a key supplier to Nvidia, remained flat, and Hanmi Semiconductor, a chip equipment manufacturer, climbed 0.2 percent. Shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean rose 2.48 percent, and food giant Nongshim added 0.72 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,435.05 won against the dollar at 9:15 a.m., down 2.05 won from the previous session.