Seoul shares turn higher late Mon. morning

South Korean stocks turned higher late Monday morning after starting marginally lower as auto and financial shares gained ground. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index had gained 7.98 points, or 0.29 percent, to 2,722.19 as of 11:20 a.m. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.95 percent, while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix retreated 0.77 percent. Auto and financial shares were bullish. Top carmaker Hyundai Motor jumped 5.32 percent and its smaller affiliate Kia shot up 5.33 percent. KB Financial Group climbed 2.32 percent, Shinhan Financial Group rose 1.81 percent, and Hana Financial Group advanced 2.94 percent. Bio shares also traded in positive terrain, with Samsung Biologics up 0.62 percent and Celltrion up 0.62 percent. But leading battery maker LG Energy Solution plunged 3.46 percent, tracking a slide in Tesla's shares. Samsung SDI and POSCO Future M also lost 1.31 percent and 1.87 percent, respectively. Leading chemical producer LG Chem slid 3 percent. The local currency was tradin g at 1,353.10 won against the dollar, down 0.3 won from the previous session's close. Source: Yonhap News Agency