Kospi rises as tech shares surge

Stocks opened higher Wednesday, tracking overnight gains by U.S. big tech shares.

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,705.32 points on Tuesday, up 0.15 percent, or 4.15 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Stocks opened higher Wednesday, tracking overnight gains by U.S. big tech shares.

The Kospi added 9.05 points, or 0.33 percent, to 2,714.37 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The U.S. stock market closed mixed overnight as investors remained cautious about the conclusion of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, set to end Wednesday (U.S. time).

The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 0.31 percent to close at 38,747.42, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.88 percent to reach a new high of 17,343.55.

In Seoul, most large caps started off in positive terrain, with Samsung Electronics gaining 0.40 percent and SK hynix 0.47 percent.

LG Energy Solution climbed 0.42 percent, while Samsung SDS added 0.13 percent.

Amorepacific surged 4.15 percent, with pharmaceutical firm Celltrion advancing 0.21 percent.

Hyundai Motor shed 0.55 percent, but its affiliate Kia Motors was up 0.41 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,379.35 won against the dollar, up 0.95 won from the previous session's close.

BY CHOI HAE-JIN, YONHAP [choi.haejin@joongang.co.kr]