Seoul shares narrow losses late Fri. morning on tech gains

Seoul's stock market experienced a slight rebound late Friday morning, as investors took profits and purchased major technology stocks in anticipation of a national holiday. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) initially fell 0.47 percent but then recovered, climbing 16.72 points, or 0.24 percent, to reach 6,977.07 by 11:20 a.m. Market activities will be on hold on Monday due to the holiday.

Earlier in the day, U.S. stocks showed modest gains despite higher Treasury yields, which had recently hit fresh multi-decade highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 0.04 percent, while the S&P 500 gained 0.19 percent. Similarly, the tech-focused Nasdaq composite added 0.04 percent. In Seoul, the market exhibited mixed performances.

Major companies like Samsung Electronics and SK hynix saw slight increases, with Samsung Electronics rising by 0.09 percent and SK hynix gaining 0.44 percent. Conversely, SK Square, the parent company of SK hynix, declined by 0.43 percent, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, an electronics component subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, edged down 0.13 percent. As of 11:20 a.m., the Korean won was trading at 1,359 won per U.S. dollar.