Kospi opens higher on tech gains following Micron's strong earnings report

Shares opened sharply higher on Thursday, driven by gains in semiconductor shares, following a stronger-than-expected earnings report from U.S. memory chipmaker Micron Technology.

The benchmark Kospi added 232.4 points, or 2.74 percent, to 8,703.42 at the opening bell.

Following a rise in the index, a buy-side sidecar was triggered by the Korea Exchange at 9:07 a.m. A sidecar halts program trading when certain market indexes fluctuate beyond a designated threshold.

Overnight, Wall Street closed mixed on concerns about the overvaluation of AI-related shares.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.35 percent. The S&P 500 lost 0.1 percent, and the Nasdaq composite retreated 0.43 percent.

However, investor sentiment was boosted after Micron released its quarterly report after market closure, as both its results and forecast exceeded expectations.

BY CHO YONG-JUN, YONHAP [[email protected]]