Seoul: South Korean shares trimmed earlier gains late Friday morning as big-cap tech shares turned lower on foreign sell-offs. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had added 26.43 points, or 0.46 percent, to 5,789.65 as of 11:20 a.m.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the KOSPI reduced earlier gains as foreigners dumped a net 1.26 trillion won (US$842 million). Retail investors and institutions purchased local shares worth 746.4 billion won and 524.8 billion won, respectively. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.44 percent lower, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 0.28 percent, and the S and P 500 dropped 0.27 percent. However, they pared most of their earlier losses after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that its war against Iran might conclude sooner than anticipated, and U.S. President Donald Trump requested no further attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure.
Earlier this week, geopolitical tensions escalated when Israel attacked the South Pars gas field, Iran's largest, and Iran retaliated with a strike on a significant liquefied natural gas site in Qatar. In Seoul, market top-cap Samsung Electronics turned lower, slipping 0.25 percent, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix went down 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, leading battery maker LG Energy Solution rose 0.94 percent, and power plant manufacturer Doosan Enerbility surged 3.29 percent. Bio and financial shares gained ground, with Samsung Biologics jumping 2.4 percent, and Celltrion adding 0.62 percent. Shinhan Financial increased 1.14 percent, and Mirae Asset Securities climbed 1.95 percent. Trading firm Samsung C and T soared 2.92 percent.
Conversely, artificial intelligence (AI) investment firm SK Square shed 1.8 percent, while defense giant Hanwha Aerospace slid 4.73 percent. Major shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy lost 0.71 percent, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics shed 2.71 percent. The Korean won was trading at 1,496.6 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., up 4.4 won from the previous session, after hitting a new 17-year low on Thursday, rising above the psychological and technically critical barrier of 1,500 won.