(LEAD) Seoul shares open higher as U.S. bond yields retreat

Seoul shares opened higher on Thursday, mirroring overnight gains on Wall Street as U.S. Treasury yields softened due to plans for increased debt buybacks, according to Yonhap news agency. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) initially rose by 3.23 percent, reaching 6,668.45 as of 9:15 a.m., before retracting some of its early gains to add 197.28 points, or 3.05 percent, to the same level.

The index experienced a sharp decline of nearly 6 percent the previous day, mainly driven by tech sell-offs amid concerns over rising bond yields.

Following the previous session's tech-related losses, chipmakers took the lead in the Korean market, partially recovering their earlier setbacks. Samsung Electronics, a market bellwether, witnessed a 4.5 percent increase, while its rival SK hynix surged by an impressive 7.93 percent. The day before, SK hynix had announced plans to buy back 40 trillion won (US$28.7 billion) worth of shares, a move aimed at returning value to shareholders.

SK Square, the parent company of SK hynix, also soared by 5.98 percent, whereas electronics component affiliate Samsung Electro-Mechanics saw a 0.87 percent decrease. As of 9:15 a.m., the Korean won was trading at 1,389.3 won against the U.S. dollar, a decrease of 0.2 won from the previous trading session's close.