[THE INVESTOR] South Korean stocks advanced late morning on Sept. 5, led by gains in techs and autos, on eased concerns over an imminent rate hike in the United States.

The benchmark KOSPI rose 18.58 points, or 0.91 percent, to 2,056.89 as of 11:20 a.m.

Data by the US Labor Department showed that US payrolls climbed by 151,000 last month following a 275,000 gain in July, lower than an expected addition of some 180,000 jobs, sapping speculations that the US Fed may raise its interest rates soon any time, probably this month.

Top market cap Samsung Electronics rose 0.06 percent, and major chipmaker SK hynix was up 2.18 percent.

Naver, the country’s top portal operator, advanced 2.05 percent.

Hyundai Motor, the country’s top automaker, gained 2.22 percent and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors advanced 0.72 percent.

The South Korean won was trading at 1,108.90 won against the US greenback, up 8.3 won from the previous session’s close.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)