Stocks open higher following softening inflation reading

Stocks opened higher Friday as investors interpreted the softer-than-expected U.S. producer price index overnight as another flag signaling a slowdown in inflation. The benchmark Kospi rose 15.67 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,606.9 in the first 15...

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the stock market close on Thursday. [YONHAP]

Stocks opened higher Friday as investors interpreted the softer-than-expected U.S. producer price index overnight as another flag signaling a slowdown in inflation.

The benchmark Kospi rose 15.67 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,606.9 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The U.S. producer price index, another key inflation reading, came in softer than expected in June. The report came a day after June's consumer price index showed U.S. inflation slowed to a two-year low on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.14 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.58 percent. The S&P 500 rose 0.85 percent.

In Seoul, big-cap shares opened mixed.

Samsung Electronics gained 0.97 percent, and SK hynix jumped 2.1 percent.

Hyundai Motor advanced 1.47 percent, and Kia climbed 1.37 percent.

LG Energy Solution lost 0.55 percent, and Samsung Biologics shed 0.67 percent. LG Chem also went down 0.55 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,269.9 won against the dollar at 9:15 a.m., down 4.1 won from the previous session's close.

BY SOHN DONG-JOO, YONHAP [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]