South Korea's KOSPI broke above 6,500 after setting fresh record highs for a third straight session. Wall Street strength followed a de facto extension of a ceasefire between the United States and Iran, while a record performance by SK Hynix and other factors helped lift risk appetite.

As of 9:20 a.m., the KOSPI was up 83.51 points, or 1.30 percent, at 6,501.44. After breaking its previous all-time high from before the outbreak of the Iran war on April 21 for the first time in about 2 months, the index has posted new record highs for 3 consecutive trading sessions through Thursday.

As of 9:21 a.m., Samsung Electronics was up 4.14 percent at 226,500 won, leading gains in the index. That was an intraday record. SK Hynix was up 20,000 won, or 1.64 percent, at 1,243,000 won.

Most of the top 10 stocks by market capitalisation were also higher. Doosan Enerbility rose 4.75 percent, SK Square added 3.19 percent, Hyundai Motor gained 0.18 percent and Hanwha Aerospace advanced 0.14 percent.

LG Energy Solution, however, was down 20,000 won, or 4.13 percent, at 464,500 won. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries fell 2.96 percent and Samsung Biologics slipped 0.51 percent.

At the same time, the KOSDAQ was up 4.77 points, or 0.40 percent, at 1,185.89.

In the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won was 1.40 won, or 0.09 percent, weaker at 1,480.90 per dollar than the previous session.