[THE INVESTOR] South Korean stocks traded sharply higher late morning July 11 as investors were boosted by better-than-expected US jobs data, analysts said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index increased 23.53 points, or 1.2 percent, to 1,986.63 as of 11:20 a.m.
The world’s largest economy announced that it created 287,000 new jobs in June, the most since October.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics jumped 2.6 percent, while top automaker Hyundai Motor inched up 0.38 percent.
Korea Electric Power Corp., the state-run power provider, also gained 0.84 percent.
The local currency was changing hands at 1,149.00 won against the US dollar, up 107 won from the previous session’s close.
(
theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)