Financial data is displayed on a screen at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap
Seoul shares traded more than 6 percent higher late Thursday morning as investors snapped up major chipmakers, including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, amid expectations for stronger shareholder returns from chip giants.
After opening 3.23 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) extended its gains, rising 401.44 points, or 6.2 percent, to 6,872.61 as of 11:20 a.m.
Program trading for the KOSPI-listed shares was suspended for five minutes at around 10 a.m., as the Korea Exchange (KRX) activated a buy-side sidecar, a measure triggered when the KOSPI 200 Futures Index rises 5 percent or more for at least one minute.
Overnight, Wall Street's major indexes closed higher as U.S. Treasury yields retreated after the Treasury Department announced plans to significantly increase buybacks of longer-term government debts.
