Seoul: South Korean stocks opened sharply higher Thursday, driven by gains in semiconductor shares stemming from a stronger-than-expected earnings report by U.S. memory chipmaker Micron Technology. After rising 2.74 percent, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) further added 474.93 points, or 5.61 percent, reaching 8,945.95 as of 9:15 a.m.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the steep rise prompted Seoul's bourse operator to issue a buy-side sidecar at 9:07 a.m., temporarily halting program trading for five minutes. A buy-side sidecar is activated when the KOSPI 200 Futures index increases 5 percent or more for at least one minute.
Overnight, Wall Street closed with mixed results due to concerns about the overvaluation of artificial intelligence (AI)-related shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.35 percent, while the S and P 500 lost 0.1 percent and the Nasdaq composite retreated 0.43 percent. However, investor sentiment improved following Micron's quarterly report, which exceeded expectations in both results and forecast.
In Seoul, leading market entities saw significant gains. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics jumped 4.99 percent, and chip giant SK hynix soared 9.88 percent. Samsung Electro-Mechanics, an electronic components manufacturing affiliate of Samsung Electronics, advanced 2.24 percent, while SK Square, the parent of SK hynix, vaulted 8.56 percent. Top carmaker Hyundai Motor climbed 1.18 percent, and its auto parts affiliate Hyundai Mobis gained 2.16 percent.
The Korean won was trading at 1,547.95 won against the U.S. dollar, down 6.15 won from the previous session, as of 9:15 a.m.