Seoul: Stocks rally higher as Fed buoys global sentiment, tech giants rally

[SEOUL] South Korean shares rallied early on Friday, tracking a global rally in the wake of dovish Federal Reserve guidance this week while heavyweights like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix continued their gains.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) was up 0.3 per cent at 2,416.04 points as of 0159 GMT.

"It's just like the previous day. The sentiment is strong - IT shares are doing well and such a trend is likely to last for a while, I believe," said Lee Jae-man, a stock analyst at Hana Financial Investment.

Tech giant Samsung Electronics climbed for a fifth session, reaching as high as 2,554,000 won while SK Hynix gained nearly 1 per cent.

Hyundai Motor rose more than 3 per cent.

Offshore investors were poised to be net sellers, offloading 25.4 billion Korean won (S$30.7 million) worth of Kospi shares near mid-session.

The South Korean won became slightly weaker against the US dollar.

The won was quoted at 1,138.0, down 0.1 per cent compared with Thursday's close of 1,136.3.

September futures on three-year treasury bonds shed 0.04 point to 109.18.

REUTERS