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Seoul shares open higher on record Q2 earnings from SK hynix

Published: 24 Jul. 2025, 10:00

Kospi opens at 3209.43 on July 24, 0.81 percent higher than the previous trading day. Numbers are shown on a screen at the Hana Bank headquarters trading room in central Seoul. [YONHAP]

Seoul shares kicked off sharply higher Thursday on the strong performance of big-cap tech shares, in particular SK hynix, boosted by record-high second-quarter earnings.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) gained 38.8 points, or 1.22 percent, to 3,222.57 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, Wall Street gained ground as the Donald Trump administration struck a trade deal with Japan to lower its 25 percent reciprocal tariffs on the Asian nation to 15 percent in exchange for greater access to Japanese automobile and agricultural markets as well as massive investments in the United States.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.14 percent, the S&P 500 added 0.78 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite went up 0.61 percent.

In Seoul, chipmaking giant SK hynix soared 3.07 percent, while its rival Samsung Electronics edged up 0.15 percent.

Shortly before the market opening, SK hynix reported an operating profit of 9.21 trillion won ($6.7 billion) and a revenue of 22.23 trillion won for the April to June period, which both exceeded the previous all-time highs set in the fourth quarter of last year thanks to soaring global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution surged 4.31 percent, and pharmaceutical giant Samsung Biologics jumped 3.85 percent.

Major power equipment builder Doosan Enerbility also shot up 5.21 percent, and shipbuilding heavyweight Hanwha Ocean escalated 3.71 percent.

Financial shares also kicked off bullish, with KB Financial up 1.82 percent and Shinhan Financial Group climbing 2.35 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,374.8 won against the U.S. dollar at 9:15 a.m., down 0.34 percent from the previous session's figure of 1,379.8 won.

Yonhap