Seoul shares rise almost 1.5% on chip, battery gains
South Korean stocks finished nearly 1.5 percent higher Wednesday, as investors scooped up semiconductor and battery shares despite overnight losses on Wall Street. The local currency rose sharply against the greenback.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 37.22 points, or 1.47 percent, to close at 2,574.82.
Trade volume was moderate at 396.7 million shares worth 12.23 trillion won ($8.44 billion), with winners outpacing losers 509 to 354.
Foreign and institutional investors together bought a net 411.6 billion won, while retail investors unloaded a net 503.6 billion won.
Overnight, US stock markets fell for the second straight session amid lingering uncertainties over tariff policies of US President Donald Trump.
The S&P 500 dipped 0.76 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.14 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.18 percent.
"Despite continued corrections in the US stock market, the Korean stock market has remained relatively stable. However, increased volatility linked to tariff concerns will be unavoidable," Kim Ji-won, an analyst at KB Securities, said.
Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics climbed 2.43 percent to 54,900 won, and chip rival SK hynix soared 5.91 percent to 198,900 won.
Battery manufacturers also reversed losses from the previous session. Industry leader LG Energy Solution jumped 2.2 percent to 348,500 won, and Samsung SDI rose 1.91 percent to 213,000 won.
Top automaker Hyundai Motor gained 1.33 percent to 198,200, while leading bio firm Samsung Biologics rose 1.03 percent to 1,079,000 won.
The local currency was trading at 1,451 won against the US dollar at 3:30 p.m., up 7.2 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
an hour ago
- Korea Herald
Instructure's Canvas LMS Enters South Korea to Strengthen Universities' Global Competitiveness
SEOUL, South Korea, June 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Instructure, the leading learning ecosystem and creator of Canvas, one of the most used learning management systems worldwide, today announced its entry into the South Korean market. This expansion marks a significant milestone in the company's mission to empower educators and learners worldwide with a secure, scalable, and modern learning management system. The launch in South Korea is made possible through a strategic partnership with Linus, the authorized partner of Canvas in the country, with over 10 years of experience in the Korean education market. Through this collaboration, educational institutions across the country will gain access to Canvas' full suite of tools and services through locally based employees, localized marketing presence, and enhanced language capability. "With Canvas LMS, learners in South Korea will gain access to world-class, student-centered learning experiences that unlock personalized and self-paced education," said Harrison Kelly, Managing Director of Asia Pacific at Instructure. "More importantly, Canvas by Instructure empowers institutions to bridge the gap between academic theory and real-world application, helping them deliver job-aligned content and credentials that prepare students for a rapidly evolving workforce. We're excited to bring all the fully featured LMS capabilities built in Canvas by Instructure to institutions in the country, supported by Linus's local expertise." Built to Scale, Secure by Design Unlike open-source LMS platforms that often rely on custom development and ongoing maintenance, Canvas by Instructure is engineered with a secure, enterprise-grade architecture that ensures long-term agility. With 99.9% annual uptime and hands-free updates, institutions can scale confidently while minimizing operational risks. Open Architecture for Seamless Integration Canvas is designed for extensibility. Through robust APIs and full support for Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) standards, it integrates effortlessly with leading edtech tools, enabling institutions to build flexible, personalized learning ecosystems. Reliability, Resilience, and Risk Management Canvas provides built-in business continuity features, including automatic updates, disaster recovery, vulnerability patching, and rigorous security protocols—all of which support a reliable and safe learning experience for students and faculty alike. AI That Empowers Educators Canvas is also at the forefront of AI innovation in education. With AI-powered tools that support learner engagement and predictive analytics to help identify at-risk students, Canvas enables educators to personalize learning at scale and enhance student outcomes. "It is a great honor for Linus to become Instructure's first authorized partner in Korea," said Nah Suk Gyu, CEO of Linus. "Through this strong partnership with Instructure, a global leader in education technology, we are now able to contribute to enhancing the global competitiveness of Korean educational institutions with the world-class Canvas LMS." Instructure powers the delivery of education globally and reimagines the technologies that turn teaching and learning into opportunities. Today, the Instructure ecosystem of products connects the dots for educators and institutions by improving educational experiences at every age, every stage and every transitional moment — across K-12, higher education and the workforce. We encourage you to discover more at
Korea Herald
an hour ago
- Korea Herald
Seoul shares open higher on extended foreign buying
South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday, set for a weeklong rally, on the back of a foreign buying binge amid uncertainties. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 16.71 points, or 0.57 percent, to 2,923.75 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The KOSPI had risen for a sixth consecutive session to hit a three-year high the previous session. Overnight, Wall Street closed lower amid heightened security risks in the Middle East seen in the United States' plan to partially evacuate its embassy in Iraq and an absence of details on the US-China trade negotiations held earlier this week. High-level officials from Washington and Beijing held talks in London for two days through Tuesday, where they agreed on a possible trade framework that could resolve trade disputes between the two countries. The officials planned to take the matter to their leaders, US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, for approval, but many specifics of the deal still remain unclear. In Seoul, tech behemoth Samsung Electronics shed 0.17 percent, while its chipmaking rival SK hynix jumped 2.6 percent. Top automaker Hyundai Motor went up 1.24 percent and its sister Kia climbed 1.65 percent. Defense giant Hanwha Aerospace advanced 1.99 percent and major nuclear power plant manufacturer Doosan Enerbility soared 5.28 percent. Leading shipbuilders also kicked off strong, with Hanwha Ocean surging 4.41 percent and HD Hyundai Heavy rising 0.48 percent. Samsung Biologics, however, dipped 1.15 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,368.5 won against the greenback at 9:15 a.m., up 6.5 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)
Korea Herald
an hour ago
- Korea Herald
SK Innovation to provide energy solutions to Singapore data center firm
SK Innovation Co. said Thursday it will supply energy solutions to a major data center firm in Singapore, a move the South Korean energy company sees as a step toward expanding its presence in the global energy solutions market. SK Innovation has signed a memorandum of understanding with Bridge Data Centres to introduce its artificial intelligence-based management system, auxiliary power supply system and liquid immersion cooling solutions for the Singaporean company's data centers, the company said in a press release. The company said it aims to demonstrate the superior stability of its power systems, which remain resilient even during crises, such as blackouts, as well as cost-saving technologies, like immersion cooling. "This agreement with BDC marks a significant step in validating the technological excellence and economic feasibility of our AI-based data center energy solutions," said Kim Moon-hwan, executive vice president of the company's energy solution division. "We plan to leverage this validation to pursue commercialization on a global scale." Depending on demand, the company said it will also explore opportunities for joint research and development projects with global AI data center firms. (Yonhap)
