Seoul shares open higher on Wall Street gain

SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks got off to a strong start Monday,
tracking a Wall Street rally on Friday, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 18.35 points, or
1.59 percent, to 1,175.75 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 2.94 percent to a two-month high on
Friday in the first session for 2009, shrugging off a report that U.S. factory
activities fell sharply in December. The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 3.5 percent.
Financial shares spearheaded the overall rally on the local bourse amid massive
buying by foreign investors.
The local currency was trading at 1,316.35 to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up
4.65 won from Friday's close.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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