South Korean shares rise for third day on AI boost

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korean shares rose for a third straight session on Thursday, led by chipmakers and e-commerce firm Kakao on hopes related to artificial intelligence.

The benchmark KOSPI was up 14.23 points, or 0.57%, at 2,523.50 as of 0139 GMT.

Chipmaker SK Hynix gained 1.61%, tracking overnight gains in U.S. AI chipmaker Nvidia, its main customer. Rival Samsung Electronics rose 0.95%.

Instant messenger Kakao rose 3.94%, extending its rally on a partnership agreement with OpenAI earlier this week.

But other software firms fell, with search engine Naver down 1.31%, after recent gains on hopes of cheap AI technologies, after the launch of China’s DeepSeek AI models.

South Korea’s government ministries are blocking access to the DeepSeek artificial intelligence tool, citing security reasons.

SK Innovation fell 3%, after the oil refiner said refining margins would remain flat this year.

South Korean shares rise 2% after Wall Street finds relief from delayed tariffs

South Korea posted a current account surplus of a nine-year high in 2024, data showed.

Of the total 941 traded issues, 577 shares advanced, while 298 declined.

Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 61.5 billion won ($42.61 million).

The won was quoted at 1,446.9 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.21% lower than its previous close at 1,443.9.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 2.0 basis points to 2.559%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 4.0 basis points to 2.770%.