Seoul shares up on tech, brokerage gains

SEOUL, Sept. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday as investors picked up tech and brokerage shares despite unrelenting worries over global financial instability, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 8.45 points, or 0.57
percent, to 1,489.82 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Tech exporters drove the index higher, with industry leaders Samsung Electronics
and LG Electronics both starting higher than the previous day.
Major brokerage firms such as Samsung Securities and Mirae Asset & Securities
also started higher, adding to the upward momentum. Smaller Daishin Securities
jumped more than 5 percent.
Banks and telecoms were, however, among the decliners. Top lender Kookmin Bank
fell 1.56 percent on its last trading day before being suspended for its move to
turn into a holding company. Second-ranked mobile carrier KTF fell after its
chief executive was arrested on charges of taking kickbacks in business
transactions.
On Tuesday, U.S. stocks lost ground as the government's proposed $700 billion
bail-out plan for its ailing financial system could be delayed amid congressional
wrangling. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 1.47 percent and the
tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index lost 1.18 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,153.35 won to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15
a.m., down 4.35 won from Tuesday's close.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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