Seoul Stocks Climb as Battery Shares Boost KOSPI

SEOUL: South Korean stocks saw an upward trend late Monday morning, primarily driven by strong performances in the battery sector. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose by 13.16 points, or 0.51 percent, reaching 2,596.43 as of 11:20 a.m. According to Yonhap News Agency, the electric vehicle battery manufacturers were at the forefront of this increase, spurred by Tesla's robust earnings report for the third quarter released last week. Notably, POSCO Future M saw a rise of 3.3 percent, while Samsung SDI surged by 5.28 percent. Other significant contributors to the market's gains included Samsung Electronics, which increased by 2.5 percent, and LG Display, which climbed 1.48 percent. In the energy and chemical sectors, SK Innovation jumped 4.81 percent, and LG Chem advanced 3.88 percent. However, not all stocks shared in the gains. SK hynix, the world's second-largest memory chip producer, saw a decline of 1.09 percent. Meanwhile, Korea Zinc witnessed a rise of 3.99 percent following its announce ment of securing an 11.26 percent stake in a buyback offer. This move is part of the company's strategy to defend its management control against its largest shareholder, Young Poong Corp., and MBK Partners. The exchange rate also saw slight movement, with the local currency trading at 1,387.8 won against the U.S. dollar, marking an increase of 1.2 won from the previous session.