Seoul shares rally on U.S. surge, global efforts to fight instability

SEOUL, Oct. 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks jumped more than 5 percent late Tuesday morning as investor sentiment was buoyed by overnight rallies in the U.S. and widening global efforts to tackle financial turmoil, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 64.87 points, or
5.03 percent, to 1,353.4 as of 11:20 a.m.
Earlier steep gains prompted bourse operator Korea Exchange (KRX) to suspend
program trading temporarily to cool the market just after it opened. This marked
the second straight suspension due to volatility.
"The decision by major advanced countries to provide an unlimited amount of
dollars for the market helped ease jitters over a credit crunch, with investors
betting on a bounce-back of recently-battered blue chips," said Bae Sung-young,
an analyst at Hyundai Securities.
Most large-cap shares gained substantial ground, with finance and shipbuilding
companies leading the upswing.
No. 2 financial service provider Shinhan Financial Group jumped 8.82 percent,
while smaller Woori Finance Holdings was up 10.21 percent. Top brokerage Mirae
Asset & Securities traded 10.74 percent higher from a day ago.
Shipyards were also lifted by the improved market mood and the won's recent
ascent against the dollar, which lead to a drop in the cost of raw materials. Top
shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries surged 11.19 percent, while smaller Samsung
Heavy Industries rose 14.16 percent.
On Monday, U.S. markets roared back from their worst-ever performance last week,
as unprecedented global efforts to avoid a crisis helped boost shattered investor
sentiment. The Dow Jones industrial average surged 11.08 percent after losing
over 20 percent last week and the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index also
jumped 11.81 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,206.1 won to the U.S. dollar as of 11:20
a.m., up 31.9 won from Monday's close.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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