Seoul shares start 13% higher on US tech gains driven by Microsoft's strong earnings - The Korea Times

A screen at the dealing room of Hana Bank’s headquarters in Seoul shows the benchmark KOSPI and Kosdaq, Friday. Yonhap

Korean stocks opened sharply higher Friday, surging by 13 percent, driven by gains in semiconductor shares stemming from an overnight rally in U.S. tech giants backed by a strong earnings report from U.S. tech giant Microsoft.

After opening 1.15 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) widened gains, raking in 727.42 points, or 13 percent, to 6,320.98 as of 9:15 a.m.

The country's benchmark suffered a deep rout for the past three consecutive sessions. The KOSPI fell nearly 40 percent this month alone.

With the surge, the bourse operator activated a buy-side sidecar for the KOSPI at 9:06 a.m., suspending five-minute program trading for the KOSPI-listed shares.