Kospi surges 1.37% as tech shares open sharply

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,728.17 points on Wednesday, up 0.84 percent, or 22.85 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

 
Shares opened over 1 percent higher Thursday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street.
 
The Kospi surged 37.26 points, or 1.37 percent, to 2,765.43 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
 
The bullish start follows overnight gains on Wall Street where the advances of tech shares, led by Apple, pushed the Nasdaq to a new high for the third consecutive session.
 
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.09 percent to 37,712.21, but the Nasdaq jumped 1.53 percent to 17,608.44, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.85 percent to a new high of 5,421.03.
 
Tech shares opened sharply up in Seoul, with Samsung Electronics soaring 2.22 percent, while SK hynix increased 4.42 percent.
 
Most other large caps were in positive territory.
 
Celltrion surged 1.76 percent, while LG Energy Solution jumped 1.28 percent.
 
Hyundai Motor gained 3.15 percent, with its affiliate Kia Motors advancing 2.04 percent.
 
The local currency was trading at 1,369 won against the dollar, down 7.2 won from the previous session's close.

BY CHOI HAE-JIN, YONHAP [choi.haejin@joongang.co.kr]