Seoul stocks opened sharply higher Tuesday, rebounding from Monday's steep losses as technology shares recovered and news emerged of a ceasefire between Iran and Israel.
The KOSPI index rose 247.84 points, or 3.31 percent, to 7,732.25 as of 9:15 a.m. After opening 2.85 percent higher, the benchmark extended gains, prompting the Korea Exchange to activate a buy-side sidecar that halted program trading for five minutes. The rebound followed an 8.29 percent plunge on Monday that left the KOSPI at 7,484.41. Heavy selling hit semiconductor names including Samsung Electronics, which fell 10.18 percent, and SK hynix, down 7.68 percent. Overnight, major U.S. indexes closed mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.16 percent while the S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.86 percent. Micron surged 9.87 percent and Nvidia gained 1.73 percent. In Seoul, Samsung Electronics climbed 4.06 percent, SK hynix rose 6.59 percent and Hyundai Motor advanced 2.35 percent. The Korean won traded at 1,531.2 won to the dollar at 9:15 a.m., up 3.8 won from the prior session.
