Dealers celebrate in front of an electronic trading board at Hana Bank’s headquarters in central Seoul, Wednesday, as the benchmark KOSPI briefly crossed the historic 6,000-point mark. Yonhap
Seoul shares opened higher Wednesday, briefly breaching a new historic landmark of 6,000 amid an extended rally in technology stocks.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 26.73 points, or 0.45 percent, to 5,996.37 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Shortly after the opening bell, the KOSPI briefly breached the 6,000-point mark, just one month after landing in the 5,000-point territory.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.76 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite advanced 1.04 percent.
On Tuesday, the KOSPI climbed 2.11 percent to finish at an all-time high of 5,969.64, driven by gains in semiconductor and automobile shares.
The index has sustained its upward momentum in recent weeks, surpassing the 5,000-point threshold for the first time on Jan. 27 and crossing 5,500 on Feb. 12. It moved above 5,800 on Friday.
Technology and automobile stocks led the gains.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.75 percent, while chip giant SK hynix climbed 2.8 percent.
Top automaker Hyundai Motor jumped 4.96 percent, and its smaller affiliate Kia declined 1.15 percent.
Source: Korea Times News
