Seoul stocks edge up on won's appreciation

SEOUL, Dec. 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks inched up late Thursday morning as a stabilizing won soothed investor jitters on the national economic outlook, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 10.70 points to
1,180.45 as of 11:20 a.m.
"The strengthening local currency put a curb on massive foreign selling, which
mainly drove the key index downward," said Kwak Jung-co, an analyst at Hana
Daetoo Securities.
The South Korean won gained against the U.S. dollar for a fourth day, dropping
back from the 1,300 won level for the first time in about six weeks.
The local currency was trading at 1,299.1 won to the U.S. dollar as of 11:20
a.m., up 25.9 won from Wednesday's close.
Wall Street finished lower Wednesday due to a string of bleak earnings reports, a
day after the Fed's record interest rate cut sent the market sharply higher.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.12 percent while the tech-dominated
Nasdaq shed 0.67 percen