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| ▲ This photo taken on Jan. 9, 2026, shows the dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul. (Yonhap) |
stocks-morning
Seoul shares turn higher late Fri. morning on defense, shipbuilding stocks
SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Yonhap) -- Seoul shares turned higher late Friday morning, driven by gains in defense and shipbuilding stocks, after opening lower on profit taking.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 13.51 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,565.88 as of 11:20 a.m.
A day earlier, the index rose 1.31 percent to close at an all-time high of 4,552.37 after hitting an intraday high of 4,610.93.
Analysts said the KOSPI could move above the 4,600-point level sooner or later, depending on fourth-quarter earnings results.
Institutions and individuals bought 541.3 billion won (US$372 million) and 641.69 billion won worth of stocks, respectively, offsetting foreign selling valued at 1.28 trillion won.
Overnight, U.S. stocks ended mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.55 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.44 percent.
Defense and shipbuilding stocks led the gains.
Leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries rose 2.92 percent, and defense giant Hanwha Aerospace jumped 7.61 percent.
Korea Aerospace Industries, the country's sole aircraft manufacturer, soared 4.41 percent, while top carmaker Hyundai Motor advanced 3.08 percent.
Among decliners, market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 0.07 percent, while chip giant SK hynix declined 1.46 percent.
Leading refiner SK Innovation fell 2.53 percent, and leading cosmetics firm Amorepacific shed 0.5 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,454.80 won against the greenback at 11:20 a.m., down 4.2 won from the previous session.
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