[THE INVESTOR] South Korean shares traded slightly higher late morning on Oct. 20, amid steady buying spree of foreign investors.

The benchmark KOSPI rose 2.01 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,042.95 as of 11:20 a.m.

The broad index tracked overnight Wall Street gains led by a pickup in oil prices and the upswing of energy-related shares.

Foreigners net-bought stocks here for six days in a row and institutions also turned to net buyers.


Market watchers cited the “price rigidity” of international oil prices in the downward direction.

“Thus, risk-related indices of emerging markets are moving in a stable downward range,” Bookook Securities analyst Kim Sung-hwan said. “Demand appetites will gradually improve on the easing of some external uncertainties.”

Market leader Samsung Electronics was up 0.55 percent a day after a 2.27-percent gain.

Other early gainers included LG Chem with 2.86-percent rise and Hyundai Heavy Industries which advanced 2.01 percent.

The state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. was off 0.77 percent and major automaker Hyundai Motor lost 0.38 percent. SK hynix, a global chipmaker, fell 2.5 percent

The local currency was trading at 1,123.25 won against the US dollar, down 0.05 won from the previous session’s close.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)