South Korean stocks traded higher late Monday morning as China’s interest rate cut eased market jitters.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had added 14.15 points, or 0.56 percent, to 2,518.65 as of 11:20 a.m.
On Monday morning, China slashed its one-year loan prime rate by 10 basis points from 3.55 percent to 3.45 percent.
The move was aimed at propping up its economy and soothing market concerns over the bankruptcy protection sought by China’s heavily indebted property developer Evergrande Group in the United States last week.
Concerns are also lingering over a possible rate hike push by the U.S. Federal Reserve, which is set to hold its annual Jackson Hole Economic Symposium later this week to discuss the likely direction of global interest rates.
On Friday, the KOSPI fell for the sixth consecutive session to a three-month low.
Wall Street closed mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding 0.075 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropping 0.2 percent and the S&P 500 declining 0.015 percent.
In Seoul, most top-cap companies traded mixed Monday.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics added 0.75 percent, while its smaller rival SK hynix shed 0.68 percent.
Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution declined 0.19 percent, Samsung SDI traded flat, and LG Chem rose 0.7 percent.
Major biotech firm Samsung Biologics climbed 1.04 percent.
Carmakers traded higher, with top automaker Hyundai Motor climbing 0.38 percent and Kia going up 0.26 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,340.2 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., down 1.9 won from the previous session’s close.
Source: Yonhap News Agency