Seoul, March 20
South Korean shares trimmed earlier gains on Friday morning as big-cap tech shares turned lower on foreign sell-offs.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had added 26.43 points, or 0.46 percent, to 5,789.65 as of 11:20 a.m, reports Yonhap news agency.
The KOSPI reduced earlier gains as foreigners dumped a net 1.26 trillion won (US$842 million). Retail investors and institutions purchased local shares worth 746.4 billion won and 524.8 billion won, respectively.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.44 percent lower, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 0.28 percent, and the S&P 500 dropped 0.27 percent, but they pared most of their earlier losses after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said its war against Iran may end a lot faster than people think and that U.S. President Donald Trump has requested no further attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure.
Earlier this week, Israel attacked the South Pars gas field, Iran's largest, and Iran hit back with a strike on a major liquefied natural gas site in Qatar.
In Seoul, market top-cap Samsung Electronics turned lower, slipping 0.25 percent, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix went down 0.2 percent.
Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution rose 0.94 percent, and power plant manufacturer Doosan Enerbility surged 3.29 percent.
Bio and financial shares gained ground.
Samsung Biologics jumped 2.4 percent, and Celltrion added 0.62 percent.
Shinhan Financial increased 1.14 percent, and Mirae Asset Securities climbed 1.95 percent. Trading firm Samsung C&T soared 2.92 percent.
On the other hand, artificial intelligence (AI) investment firm SK Square shed 1.8 percent, and defence giant Hanwha Aerospace slid 4.73 percent.
Major shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy lost 0.71 percent, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics shed 2.71 percent.
The Korean won was trading at 1,496.6 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., up 4.4 won from the previous session.
On Thursday, the won hit a new 17-year low, rising above the psychological and technically critical barrier of 1,500 won.
