Kospi opens higher, fueled by tech rally amid U.S. rate cut hopes

Shares opened higher Thursday, backed by a rally in tech shares, after a mixed close on Wall Street, on hopes for additional U.S. rate cuts.

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

Shares opened higher Thursday, backed by a rally in tech shares, after a mixed close on Wall Street, on hopes for additional U.S. rate cuts.

The benchmark Kospi rose 1.83 percent, or 47.60 points, to 2,643.92 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7 percent to 41,914.75 but the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 0.04 percent to 18,082.21.

On Wednesday (U.S. time), a Federal Reserve official said it will be appropriate for the U.S. central bank to make additional rate cuts if inflation continues to ease as expected.

Earlier this month, the Fed reduced its key rate by a half percentage point, putting an end to its post-pandemic tightening cycle.

In Seoul, tech stocks led gains.

Samsung Electronics rose 4.2 percent, chipmaker SK hynix jumped 7.9 percent, battery maker Samsung SDI gained 0.3 percent and state utility Korea Electric Power Corporation was up 0.8 percent.

Among decliners, carmaker Hyundai Motor fell 0.2 percent, leading battery maker LG Energy Solution shed 1.1 percent, and cosmetics firm Amorepacific retreated 1.2 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,332.50 won against the dollar, up 1.5 won from the previous session.

BY YOON SEUNG-JIN, YONHAP [yoon.seungjin@joongang.co.kr]