Seoul stocks turn higher after weak start ahead of Nvidia earnings

Seoul stocks turned higher after a weak start Wednesday on gains in chipmakers ahead of the earnings release from U.S. chip giant Nvidia. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price (KOSPI) was up 61 points, or 0.9 percent, to 6,803.74 as of 9:15 a.m. Overnight, major stocks indexes on Wall Street closed higher on a chip rebound, while a drop in global oil prices and U.S. Treasury yields offered some sense of relief to investors. The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed 0.66 percent higher, while the S&P500 added 0.32 percent. Investors are closely following the upcoming earnings release from Nvidia, which will affect not only the company's share price but also valuations across the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. Market top caps were trading mixed. Samsung Electronics added 2.14 percent, while its industry rival SK hynix advanced 1.85 percent. In contrast, carmaker Hyundai Motor slid 0.24 percent, battery maker LG Energy Solution shed 1.29 percent, and defense giant Hanwha Aerospace declined 3.54 percent. The Korean won was trading at 1,382.4 won against the U.S. dollar, up 0.3 won from the previo