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Kospi opens higher on U.S. gains

Published: 24 Dec. 2025, 11:12

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi opening on Dec. 24. [YONHAP]

Shares opened higher Wednesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, led by strong U.S. economic data and robust tech shares.

The benchmark Kospi added 15.5 points, or 0.38 percent, to 4,132.82 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, major U.S. indexes ended higher, following reports of stronger-than-expected growth in the world's largest economy and a bullish run of blue-chip tech shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.16 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite grew 0.57 percent, and the S&P 500 gained 0.46 percent.

AI chip giant Nvidia jumped over 3 percent after the office of the U.S. Trade Representative said the Donald Trump administration will hold off new tariffs on Chinese chips for 18 months.

In Seoul, tech giant Samsung Electronics went up 0.45 percent, while its chipmaking rival SK hynix increased 0.51 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor jumped 2.44 percent, and its sister Kia climbed 1.16 percent. Hyundai's auto parts subsidiary, Hyundai Mobis, soared 2.75 percent.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution also advanced 1.16 percent.

Shipbuilders were mixed, with Hanwha Ocean rising 1.46 percent, while HD Hyundai Heavy and HD Korea Shipbuilding fell 0.94 percent and 1.27 percent, respectively.

The won was trading at 1,469.7 won against the dollar, down 0.94 percent from the previous session's close of 1,483.6 won, as Korea's foreign exchange authorities said an excessively weak won is not desirable.

Yonhap