Seoul shares rebound late Wed. morning on tech gains

SEOUL, Oct. 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks rebounded from the previous session's trough late Wednesday morning by rising more than 1 percent driven by gains in tech shares amid eased rate-hike woes.

After opening 0.44 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) extended gains, adding 68.86 points, or 1.14 percent, to 6,104.21 as of 11:20 a.m.

The index tumbled 5.46 percent the previous day, dragged down by losses in technology shares amid renewed concerns over big artificial intelligence (AI) firms' heavy capital spending.

Earlier in the morning, New York Fed President John Williams said in an interview with Bloomberg that he saw no need for further monetary tightening next year.

Also, the market is awaiting U.S. consumer price index data later in the day, expecting clues on the Federal Reserve's interest-rate outlook.

Overnight, U.S. stocks closed lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average declining 0.35 percent, and the Nasdaq falling 0.15 percent.

In Seoul, market heavyweights traded in positive territory.

Tech giant Samsung Electronics rose 2.16 percent and SK hynix gained 1.52 percent.

Top carmaker Hyundai Motor advanced 1.03 percent and its sister Kia climbed 1.02 percent.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution went up 2.32 percent and major pharma Celltrion mounted 1.56 percent.

However, financial shares lost ground as KB Financial Group dropped 1.48 percent and Samsung Life Insurance fell 1.17 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,337.45 won against the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m., up 4.25 won from the previous stock trading session's close.