Kospi opens higher after overnight rebound on Wall Street

Shares opened higher on Tuesday as investors weighed an overnight rebound on Wall Street following lingering uncertainty over the Middle East and the AI-backed rally.

After opening 1.5 percent higher, the benchmark Kospi rose 48 points, or 0.77 percent, to 6,305.45 as of 9:15 a.m.

The index plunged by more than 5 percent on Monday after a record 18 percent surge on Friday.

Overnight, U.S. stocks advanced as Amazon.com’s 4.5 percent gain, driven by strong earnings, helped lift companies benefiting from demand for AI.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.32 percent to 53,178.41, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite climbed 2.13 percent to 25,913.90.

Falling oil prices also contributed to the broadly positive market sentiment.

Large-cap stocks were mixed.

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering rose 2.17 percent, and LIG Defense & Aerospace gained 4.86 percent.

Chip giant SK hynix rose 0.7 percent, shipping firm HMM jumped 4.43 percent and steelmaker Posco Holdings gained 0.82 percent.

Among decliners, market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 0.2 percent, top carmaker Hyundai Motor declined 1.91 percent and cosmetics firm Amorepacific shed 0.54 percent.

The won weakened from the previous session’s close to trade at 1,431.65 won against the dollar as of 9:15 a.m. 

Yonhap