SEOUL-- South Korean stocks traded higher late Friday morning as foreign investors scooped up local shares ahead of the release of U.S. jobs data.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 19.66 points, or 0.62 percent, to trade at 3,195.51 points as of 11:20 a.m.
The main index got off to a strong start, tracking gains on Wall Street, on the back of foreign and institutional buying.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.37 percent, and the tech heavy Nasdaq composite edged up 0.14 percent as investors awaited the U.S. labor market report Friday.
The jobs data will offer clues whether the U.S. economy is on pace to recover as the Fed mulls tapering asset purchases by the end of this year.
In Seoul, most large caps traded higher.
Market kingpin Samsung Electronics rose 0.79 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix added 0.47 percent.
LG Electronics surged 4.66 percent amid reports that U.S. tech giant Apple could work with South Korean companies on its car development project.
Online portal operator Naver gained 1.58 percent, and mobile messaging giant Kakao advanced 1.29 percent.
Pharmaceutical firm Samsung Biologics climbed 0.32 percent, and drugmaker SK Bioscience spiked 8.63 percent.
Leading chemical firm LG Chem inched up 0.14 percent, while online lender Kakao Bank shed 0.61 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,155.6 won against the U.S. dollar, up 5.9 won from the previous session's close.
Source: Yonhap News Agency