Seoul stocks gain on Wall Street rallies

SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks gained 1.8 percent late Monday
morning as foreign investors scooped up big-cap shares following a Wall Street
rally on Friday, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 20.78 points to
1,178.18 as of 11:20 a.m.
"Stabilizing global stock markets lured foreign investors to the local bourse,"
said Kwak Jung-bo, an analyst at Hana Daetoo Securities.
Large-cap electronics shares led the market rally, gaining for a second session
amid massive foreign buying. Financial stocks also gathered substantial ground on
bargain hunting.
The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 2.94 percent to a two-month high on
Friday in the first session of 2009, shrugging off a report that U.S. factory
activities fell sharply in December. The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 3.5 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,304.75 won to the U.S. dollar as of 11:20
a.m., up 16.75 won from Friday's close.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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