Korean stocks traded sharply higher late Monday morning as investors bought semiconductor shares on optimism over AI-related demand. The KOSPI was up 2.97 percent at 6,886.09 as of 11:20 a.m. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix led gains. The won was quoted at 1,344.15 against the U.S. dollar.
The won-dollar exchange rate and the KOSPI index can be seen on a screen at a dealing room in Hana Bank, Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
Korean stocks traded sharply higher late Monday morning as investors scooped up semiconductor shares on optimism on further artificial intelligence (AI)-related demand.
Opening 3.34 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was trading up 198.88 points, or 2.97 percent, to 6,886.09, as of 11:20 a.m.
Wall Street closed lower Friday, but the PHLX semiconductor index rose 3.38 percent on the release of OpenAI's new GPT-6 Astra, which is expected to boost demand for memory chips.
