Seoul shares up 2.3 pct in late-morning trade

SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks traded 2.3 percent higher late Monday morning, boosted by gains in blue-chip exporters, analysts said.
   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped 40.98 points to 1,819.93 as of 11:20 a.m., rising above the 1,800 point mark for the first time in 11 days since it closed at 1860.58 on Aug. 18.
   Hynix Semiconductor, the world's second-largest memory chip maker, soared 5.85 percent on brighter chip price forecasts and market bellwether Samsung Electronics went up 0.55 percent.
   Top shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries shot up almost 8 percent and leading refinery SK Innovation gained nearly 6 percent.
   SK Telecom, South Korea's top mobile carrier, gained 2.08 percent after winning the auction for the "golden" spectrum 1.8 GHz band for its super-fast wireless service.
   The local currency was changing hands at 1,076.9 won to the greenback, up 4.9 won from Friday's close.
   brk@yna.co.kr
(END)