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Kospi opens higher on U.S. gains

Published: 23 Dec. 2025, 09:54

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi opening on Dec. 23, 2025. [YONHAP]

Shares opened higher Tuesday, tracking a lift in Wall Street led by a rebound in tech shares.

The benchmark Kospi added 19.53 points, or 0.48 percent, to 4,125.46 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, major U.S. indexes continued to show a bull run led by tech stocks, fueling expectations for a year-end Santa Claus rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.47 percent higher, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 0.52 percent, and the S&P 500 gained 0.64 percent.

In Seoul, tech giant Samsung Electronics climbed 0.81 percent, while its chipmaking rival SK hynix advanced 1.72 percent.

Shipbuilders kicked off strong after U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled a plan to build a new naval warship in cooperation with Hanwha.

Hanwha Ocean jumped 5.2 percent, while its rivals HD Hyundai Heavy and HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore rose 1.56 percent and 0.72 percent, respectively.

Defense giant Hanwha Aerospace gained 0.68 percent, and insurance firm Samsung Life Insurance climbed 3.43 percent.

On the other hand, leading battery maker LG Energy Solution dipped 0.9 percent, and state-run Korea Electric Power lost 1.43 percent.

The won was trading at 1,482.7 won against the dollar, up 0.18 percent from the previous session's close of 1,480.1 won.

Yonhap