JAKARTA - The South Korean stock exchange opened sharply higher on Friday. The boost came from Wall Street, after US technology stocks rose thanks to Microsoft's strong earnings report.
Yonhap quoted Friday, July 31, reported that Seoul's stock strengthening was mainly supported by semiconductor stocks. The sentiment came after the US technology giant strengthened in overnight trading.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index or KOSPI benchmark index rose 64.23 points at the opening of trading. The increase was equivalent to 1.15 percent to the level of 5,657.79.
KOSPI is the main index on the South Korean Stock Exchange. This index is commonly used to read the general direction of large stocks in Seoul.
In the United States, Wall Street closed higher. Microsoft jumped 15 percent and recorded a record gain after its second-quarter report beat expectations.
Microsoft's performance was supported by its ongoing quarter sales and better-than-expected cloud business growth.
Cloud is an internet-based computing service. This service is widely used by companies to store data, run applications, and support artificial intelligence or AI needs.
Microsoft's report also allayed concerns about the size of AI infrastructure spending. This issue has recently become a concern for the market as technology companies are pouring in large funds to build data centers and AI services.
The S&P 500 rose 1.66 percent. The Nasdaq, which contains many technology stocks, gained 2.78 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also rose 1.19 percent.
Yonhap noted that the PHLX chip index, which measures large semiconductor stocks in the US, jumped 8.2 percent.
The rise in US technology stocks also provided a boost to Seoul, especially in semiconductor stocks.
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