Seoul shares up 0.64 pct late Thurs. morning

South Korean stocks traded 0.64 percent higher late Thursday morning on rising optimism for a rate cut by the Federal Reserve. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index had gained 17.8 points to 2,811.81 as of 11:20 a.m. On Wall Street overnight, major indices rallied on hopes for the Fed's dovish move after softening labor data and strong performance by tech shares, including artificial intelligence chip giant Nvidia. In Seoul, Samsung Electronics, the world's biggest memory chipmaker, added 2.57 percent after a news report that its high bandwidth memory (HBM) product has passed Nvidia's quality test. However, SK hynix, a leading supplier of HBM chips to Nvidia, fell 3.18 percent. Major chemicals firm OCI rose 2.12 percent, and major zinc smelter Korea Zinc gained 1.16 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,381.75 won against the U.S. dollar, up 8.85 won from the previous session's close. Source: Yonhap News Agency