Seoul shares open higher on Wall Street gains

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Seoul shares open higher on Wall Street gains

SEOUL, Feb. 6 (Yonhap) -- Seoul shares opened higher Thursday, tracking gains on Wall Street, amid eased concerns over a trade war between the United States and China.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 12.07 points, or 0.48 percent, to 2,521.34 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, U.S. stocks advanced, helped by eased concerns about a potential global trade war amid U.S. President Donald Trump's 30-day reprieves for tariffs on both Mexico and Canada announced earlier this week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7 percent, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.19 percent.

In Seoul, chip and auto stocks led gains.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 1.3 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix jumped 2.1 percent, and top carmaker Hyundai Motor gained 1 percent.

Korean Air, the national flag carrier, climbed 0.6 percent, and leading shipping firm HMM was up 0.7 percent.

Among decliners, leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai fell 0.5 percent, steelmaker POSCO Holdings declined 0.8 percent, and LG Chem shed 1.8 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,444.90 won against the U.S. dollar at 9:15 a.m., down 0.6 won from the previous session.

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