Seoul stocks turn up late Monday morning on bargain hunting

Seoul's stock market turned around late Monday, climbing higher as bargain hunters flocked to tech giants. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) surged 93.16 points, or 1.63 percent, to 5,823.9 by 11:20 a.m., reversing its 1 percent drop from the previous session. This rebound came as investors sought out cheaper stocks, particularly in the tech sector, following a 3 percent decline on Friday due to ongoing concerns about the profitability of AI investments.

Earlier in the week, the U.S. tech-heavy S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both fell more than 1 percent, as big tech companies reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results and raised questions about the sustainability of AI investments.

Intel, a leading chip manufacturer, was the primary driver of the initial market slide, plummeting over 28 percent. Google's parent company, Alphabet, also saw a 1.4 percent drop. However, despite these AI-related challenges, Korea's semiconductor exports continued to perform strongly. October data from the trade ministry revealed a staggering 259 percent increase in outbound shipments compared to the same period last year.

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, two major chip giants, both managed to post modest gains, rising by 0.89 percent and 2.47 percent, respectively.

The rally in AI investment firm SK Square added to the positive sentiment, with its shares jumping 2.79 percent. Meanwhile, bio firm Celltri also contributed to the market's recovery, although specific details of its performance were not provided in the source. Despite the recent setbacks in the tech sector, the overall resilience of Korea's semiconductor exports demonstrated the strength and adaptability of the country's manufacturing sector.