Seoul shares sharply up on tech rally, lower oil prices
South Korean stocks traded sharply higher on Tuesday as investor sentiment was boosted by a rally in technology shares and a decline in oil prices.
Opening 4.55 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 226.87 points, or 4.52 percent, to 5,245.72 as of 11:20 am, reports Yonhap news agency.
Overnight on Wall Street, three major stock indexes finished higher as hopes for an end of the U.S.-Iran war dragged down oil prices and eased inflation fears.
In Seoul, large-cap tech shares led the upbeat mode. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics jumped 5.11 percent, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix vaulted 6.78 percent.
Hanmi Semiconductor, a leading chip equipment maker, soared 7.16 percent, and SK Square, the parent of SK hynix, advanced 5.26 percent.
Korean Air and Asiana Airlines surged 11.34 percent and 12.07 percent, respectively, on lower oil prices.
The Korean won was trading at 1,345.75 won against the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m., down 5.75 won from the previous trading session's close.
Meanwhile, the share of South Korea's top 10 exporters in the country's total outbound shipments rose sharply in the third quarter from a year earlier, data showed Tuesday, driven by strong demand for semiconductors and other technology products.
Exports by the top 10 companies accounted for 60.9 percent of total exports in the July-September period, up from 40.5 percent a year earlier, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Data and Statistics.
The country's top 100 exporters accounted for 79.4 percent of total exports in the third quarter, up from 67.9 percent a year earlier.
South Korea's total exports came to US$318.6 billion in the third quarter, an increase of 72.3 percent on-year.
By industry, exports by the mining and manufacturing sector surged 82.8 percent to $291.5 billion.
