Seoul stocks start higher on U.S. rallies

SEOUL, April 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korean shares got off to a strong start
Thursday as investor sentiment got a boost from overnight Wall Street rallies,
analysts said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 20.98 points, or
1.57 percent, to 1,359.4 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
U.S. stocks finished sharply higher Wednesday as improving economic data fed
economic recovery hopes. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 2.11 percent and
the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 2.28 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,320.75 won to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15
a.m., up 19.95 won from Wednesday's close.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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