Seoul shares open higher on oil price recovery

South Korean share prices opened higher on Monday after oil prices recovered from last week’s multiyear lows. 

Traders monitor share prices on screens at a local bank. (Yonhap)

A rebound on Wall Street also boosted investor sentiment, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 7.13 points, or 0.38 percent, to 1,886.56 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The index was trading at 1894.61, up 0.81 percent, as of 10:13 a.m.

On Friday, oil prices rebounded from 13-year lows on a cold snap in Europe and the United States. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average advanced 1.33 percent, while the Nasdaq composite index surged 2.66 percent.

In Seoul, chemicals and refiners led the morning’s gains, though they were capped by losses in tech shares.

LG Chem grew 1.15 percent, and S-Oil surged 2 percent.

But market heavyweight Samsung Electronics shed 0.34 percent, while Taihan Electric Wire, the country’s No. 1 electrical materials manufacturers, tumbled 5.13 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,197.05 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 3.05 won from Friday’s close.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)