Seoul shares spike almost 5 pct on U.S. gains

SEOUL, Dec. 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korean shares surged almost 5 percent late
Monday morning as investors took a cue from U.S. advances, analysts said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 53.62 points to
1,157.44 as of 11:20 a.m.
"Foreign and institutional buying lifted the shares across the board after the
U.S. market gained Friday on renewed hopes that a lifeline will be extended for
troubled carmakers," said Kwak Jung-bo, an analyst at Hana Daetoo Securities.
Steep gains prompted the Korea Exchange, the bourse operator, to put program
trading on a five-minute hold after the KOSPI futures prices rose more than 5
percent.
Wall Street gathered ground Friday as the White House and the Treasury Department
reasserted their willingness to bail out the troubled auto sector a day after the
Senate killed a US$14 billion rescue bill.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.75 percent and the tech-laced Nasdaq
composite index jumped 2.18 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,346 won to the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m.,
up 26.5 won from Friday's close.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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