Seoul stocks open higher on rosy outlook for chipmakers

SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks opened higher Friday as investors continued to scoop up chipmakers after they delivered strong quarterly and annual earnings, and painted a rosy picture for future performances.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 24.86 points, or 0.48 percent, to 5,246.11 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Earlier this week, the country's top two chipmakers -- Samsung Electronics and SK hynix --released record-breaking earnings while painting a rosy outlook over this year's high bandwidth memory (HBM) market.

Investors, however, were also seen taking a breather after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to raise "reciprocal" tariffs and auto duties on South Korea back to 25 percent this week, citing Seoul's lack of progress in the legislative process in ratifying a tariff deal finalized between the two countries in October.

Top tech giant Samsung Electronics climbed 0.44 percent, and SK hynix shot up 3.6 percent.

Leading carmaker Hyundai Motor fell 3.41 percent, and its sister Kia shed 1.23 percent.

No. 1 mobile carrier SK Telecom moved up 6.91 percent, and its rival KT increased 1.96 percent.

Major chemical shares were mixed, with LG Chem decreasing 2.33 percent, while SK Innovation rose 1.94 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,432.1 won against the greenback as of 9:15 a.m., up 5.8 won from the previous session's close.

colin@yna.co.kr
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