Seoul shares up 0.49 pct in late-morning trade

SEOUL, May 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks traded 0.49 percent higher late Friday morning as gains of tech and auto shares offset falls in refiners, analysts said. After trading in a tight range, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 10.27 points to 2,108.78 as of 11:20 a.m. Chip giant Hynix Semiconductor rose more than 2 percent and leading automaker Hyundai Motor advanced 3.27 percent. Hit by foreign sell-offs, top refiner SK Innovation fell 1.36 percent and its rival S-Oil shed 0.71 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,081.40 won to the greenback as of 11:20 a.m., up 4.80 won from Thursday's close, even as the government said on Thursday it will further cut the ceiling on foreign currency forward positions for local and foreign banks, dealers said.