Seoul shares open higher on techs, batteries

SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks opened higher on Thursday, heading to set a new all-time high, as investor sentiment was boosted by overnight gains on Wall Street driven by growing hopes for a rate cut by the Federal Reserve and a rally of artificial intelligence (AI) shares.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 20.16 points, or 0.61 percent, to 3,334.69 in the first 15 minutes of trading, breaking the record high of 3,314.53 posted the previous day.
Overnight, the S&P 500 closed 0.3 percent higher and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite inched up 0.03 percent, driven by sharp gains in cloud provider Oracle and AI-related shares, such as Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, closed 0.48 percent lower.
The fresh U.S. producer price data, which showed a decline for the first time in four months, also boosted optimism that the Fed will cut its key rate next week.
Investors' eyes are now on the U.S. consumer price index for August due out on Thursday (U.S. time), which will provide additional clues for the Fed's monetary direction.
In Seoul, chip shares led the KOSPI's rise.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics increased 1.1 percent, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix soared 2.63 percent.
Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution jumped 2.64 percent, and defense powerhouse Hanwha Aerospace climbed 1.65 percent.
Major shipbuilders also kicked off strong, with Hanwha Ocean jumping 1.26 percent and HD Korea Shipbuilding rising 1.21 percent.
But No. 1 financial firm KB Financial lost 1.7 percent, and power plant manufacturer Doosan Enerbility dropped 0.96 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,388.5 won against U.S. dollar at 9:15 a.m., down 1.9 won from the previous session.

Sumber : yna.co.kr