Seoul shares surge on U.S. gains

SEOUL, Sept. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks opened sharply higher Monday as investors took comfort in stabilizing U.S. markets following Washington-led measures to rescue ailing financial firms, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped 23.6 points, or
1.62 percent, to 1,479.38 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Steel and shipyard shares led the overall gains. Steelmaking giant POSCO and
smaller Hyundai Steel both surged more than 4 percent, while leading shipbuilder
Hyundai Heavy Industries gained over 5 percent.
Banking and brokerage issues added to the market upswings, with major players
such as Kookmin Bank and Mirae Asset & Securities trading sharply higher than the
previous session.
Telecoms, however, remained weak, with second-ranked mobile carrier KTF losing
nearly 4 percent after its top executive was arrested on charges that he had
taken kickbacks from suppliers in business transactions.
On Friday, U.S. stocks rallied on optimism that the government would help rescue
struggling financial companies and restore stability to the overall economy. The
Dow Jones industrial average soared 3.35 percent and the tech-dominated Nasdaq
composite index advanced 3.4 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,127.5 won to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m.,
up 12.2 won from Friday's close.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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