[THE INVESTOR] South Korean stocks opened higher on June 17, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street after Britain postponed its referendum campaign on its European Union membership in the aftermath of a lawmaker’s death. 

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index advanced 16.38 points, or 0.84 percent, to 1,968.37 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Most large caps traded bullish. 

Market top cap Samsung Electronics gained 0.99 percent, and top automaker Hyundai Motor increased 1.12 percent. 

Korea Electric Power Corp., the state-run utility, soared 0.69 percent, and leading cosmetics maker AmorePacific increased 0.73 percent.

U.S. stocks closed higher on Thursday after a pro-European Union British lawmaker was assaulted to death in street, causing a temporary suspension of campaigning for next week’s vote on EU membership, a key issue that rattled the global financial market.

The local currency was trading at 1,168.2 won against the US dollar, up 3.2 won from the previous session’s close.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)