Kospi jumps after Fed chair signals rate cut won't hinge on inflation

Shares opened higher Thursday as Wall Street rallied after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank will not wait until inflation "gets all the way down to 2 percent" for a rate cut.

A screen in Hana Bank’s trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

Shares opened higher Thursday as Wall Street rallied after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank will not wait until inflation "gets all the way down to 2 percent" for a rate cut.

The benchmark Kospi jumped 27.35 points, or 0.95 percent, to 2,895.29 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 rose to record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also increased 1.09 percent.

The bullish run came after Powell made the remark during his testimony to the U.S. House Financial Services Committee amid the market's hope that a rate cut may happen as early as September.

In Seoul, Samsung Electronics rose 0.91 percent, and SK hynix added 3.56 percent.

Hyundai Motor moved up 1.28 percent and Kia gained 0.25 percent. Auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis climbed 0.86 percent.

Search engine operator Naver added 0.17 percent, while its rival Kakao shed 0.12 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,381.1 won against the dollar at 9:15 a.m., up 3.6 won from the previous session's close.

BY CHO YONG-JUN, YONHAP [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]