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Kospi opens sharply higher tracking U.S. tech gains

Published: 22 Dec. 2025, 09:45

A dealing room at Hana Bank in central Seoul on Dec. 22. [YONHAP]

Korean stocks opened sharply higher Monday as investor sentiment was boosted by AI gains on Wall Street.

The Kospi advanced 68.01 points, or 1.69 percent, to 4,088.56 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

On Friday, major U.S. indexes gained ground as AI stocks turned higher despite valuation woes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.38 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.31 percent, and the S&P 500 closed 0.88 percent higher.

AI chip giant Nvidia jumped 3.93 percent on reports that the U.S. government was reviewing the possible sale of the company's advanced H200 AI chips to China. AMD soared 6.15 percent, and Oracle surged 6.63 percent.

In Seoul, top tech giant Samsung Electronics climbed 3.1 percent, while its chipmaking rival SK hynix advanced 4.39 percent.

AI investment firm SK Square expanded 3.96 percent, and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution increased 1.85 percent.

Major power plant manufacturer Doosan Enerbility rose 1.68 percent, and defense giant Hanwha Aerospace added 1.92 percent.

Shipbuilders also started in positive territory, with Hanwha Ocean jumping 2.19 percent and HD Korea Shipbuilding rising 0.83 percent.

But automakers kicked off weak, with Hyundai Motor down 0.17 percent and Kia losing 0.58 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,477.4 won against the U.S. dollar, up 0.07 percent from the previous session's quote of 1,476.3 won.

Yonhap