Samsung Electronics trades higher Monday following tech rally in U.S.

Its share price rose above the 60,000 won mark for the first time since Dec. 15.

Samsung Electronics' office building in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on July 7, 2022. [NEWS1]

Samsung Electronics is trading higher Monday morning driven by foreign investors picking up the chipmaker’s shares, following a strong tech rally in the U.S. market on Friday.

Samsung Electronics shares traded at 60,200 won at 11:30 a.m., Monday, up 2.03 percent from the previous trading day.

Its share price rose above the 60,000 won mark for the first time since Dec. 15.

Samsung Electronics reported a weaker-than-expected quarterly performance on Friday for the October-December period.

Samsung Electronics released its preliminary estimate of 4.3 trillion won in operating profit, down 69 percent on year. It is the worst quarterly operating profit since the third quarter of 2014.

Yet the chipmaker’s share price was rising for four consecutive days since last week, in the expectation of rebounding in the chip demand.

“In the first half of 2023, supply and demand will likely show signs of improving thanks to inventory policies of leading memory chipmakers and additional output cuts by major chip suppliers,” said Baik Gil-hyun, analyst at Yuanta Securities.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]