Seoul stocks extend gains late Wednesday morning on bargain hunting

Korean stocks extended their gains late Wednesday morning as individual investors went bargain hunting following the previous session's massive sell-off in technology stocks. After opening 1.86 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 272.43 points, or 3.32 percent, to 8,476.27 as of 11:20 a.m. Overnight, Wall Street closed lower as sharp declines in memory chip and semiconductor stocks weighed on investor sentiment amid broader concerns about the artificial intelligence sector. In Seoul, blue chip technology shares traded in positive territory. Semiconductor heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK hynix gained 7.26 percent and 2.43 percent, respectively. Samsung Electro-Mechanics, an electronic components affiliate of Samsung Electronics, went up 2.06 percent. Automobile shares were also among the gainers. Industry leader Hyundai Motor moved up 0.59 percent, and its smaller affiliate Kia advanced 2.4 percent. The Korean won was trading at 1,536.7 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., up 2.4 won from the previous session.