SEOUL, Nov. 13 (Yonhap) — Seoul shares traded slightly higher late Thursday morning after trimming earlier gains on progress in the United States’ moves to end its record long government shutdown.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 3.43 points, or 0.08 percent, to 4,153.82 as of 11:20 a.m.
Overnight, U.S. stocks closed mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.68 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite slipping 0.26 percent.
Technology shares on Wall Street remained weak after Japan’s SoftBank Group sold its entire stake in Nvidia Corp. to help finance its artificial intelligence (AI) investments.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted to end the 43-day government shutdown following the Senate’s passage of a short-term funding bill. U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign the legislation as he has expressed support for it.
Individuals bought a net 216.2 billion won (US$147 million) worth of stocks, offsetting institutions and foreigners’ stock selling of 144.45 billion won and 72.03 billion won, respectively.
In Seoul, shipbuilding and energy stocks led the gains.
Leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries jumped 3.54 percent, and Samsung Heavy Industries climbed 0.67 percent.
LG Chem climbed 3.18 percent, and Samsung SDI, the No. 2 battery maker, gained 0.31 percent.
Among decliners, market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 0.48 percent, and its chip rival SK hynix declined 0.81 percent.
Top carmaker Hyundai Motor dropped 0.36 percent, and defense giant Hanwha Aerospace Industries shed 0.21 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,469.00 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., down 3.3 won from the previous session.
This photo, taken Nov. 13, 2025, shows the dealing room of Hana Bank in central Seoul. (Yonhap)
kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
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