Seoul shares open higher on Wall Street rally

SEOUL, May 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks started higher Tuesday as
expectations that the global economy might soon reach a bottom boosted U.S.
stocks, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed 28.02 points, or
2.09 percent, to 1,415.7 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
The KOSPI surpassed the 1,400-point mark for the first time in about a week just
after the opening bell on the back of strong buying by foreign investors.
The local currency was trading at 1,238.8 won to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m.,
up 20.7 won from Monday's close.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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