Seoul shares up 0.98 pct in late-morning trade

SEOUL, Sept. 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks traded 0.98 percent higher late Thursday morning as foreign and retail buying offset an institutional sell-off, analysts said.
After bobbing in and out of negative territory, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 16.85 points to 1,739.94 as of 11:20 a.m.
Financial and tech shares led the rally, with Hana Financial Group soaring 5.5 percent on news reports that Hana Bank is set to buy Korea Exchange Bank. Samsung Electronics rose 1.98 percent on a patent-licensing deal with Microsoft and its smaller rival LG Electronics shot 7.75 percent.
The local currency was changing hands at 1,180 won to the greenback as of 11:20 a.m., down 8.8 won from Wednesday's close.
brk@yna.co.kr
(END)