South Korea's KOSPI is widening gains on Jan. 12 as leading stocks strengthen on a positive U.S. lead.

As of 10:59 a.m., the KOSPI is up 55.08 points, or 1.20 percent, from the previous session at 4,641.40.

The index opened up 53.57 points, or 1.17 percent, at 4,639.89 and at one point rose as high as 4,652.54.

In the main board market, individuals and institutions are net buyers of 222.3 billion won and 119.0 billion won, respectively. Foreigners are net sellers of 419.2 billion won.

Foreigners are also net sellers of 334.4 billion won in the KOSPI 200 futures market.

U.S. stocks ended last week with major indexes setting record highs.

On Jan. 9 local time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 237.96 points, or 0.48 percent, at 49,504.07.

The S&P 500 ended up 44.82 points, or 0.65 percent, at 6,966.28, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 191.33 points, or 0.81 percent, to close at 23,671.35.

The Dow and the S&P 500 set new record highs.

Samsung Electronics is up 0.86 percent at 140,200 won and SK Hynix is up 2.02 percent at 759,000 won.

Nuclear-power shares are rising together after reports said Meta, operator of Facebook and Instagram, has signed a series of large nuclear power generation contracts with nuclear companies to secure electricity needed to run AI data centers.

Doosan Enerbility is up 4.99 percent, BHI is up 4.81 percent, KEPCO Engineering & Construction is up 5.75 percent and Hanshin Machinery is up 2.81 percent.

Hyundai Motor Group shares are rising, with Hyundai Motor up 2.60 percent and Hyundai Glovis up 8.39 percent, after the humanoid robot Atlas received favorable reviews at CES 2026, which ended on Jan. 9 local time.

Among other top market-cap stocks, LG Energy Solution is up 3.17 percent, Hanwha Aerospace is up 0.74 percent and SK Square is up 0.70 percent, while Samsung Biologics is down 0.16 percent and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries is down 1.48 percent.

By sector, construction is up 5.45 percent, machinery and equipment is up 3.65 percent and transport and warehousing is up 3.36 percent, while insurance is down 0.50 percent and non-metallic minerals is down 0.43 percent.

At the same time, the Kosdaq is up 4.11 points, or 0.43 percent, from the previous session at 952.03.

The index opened up 0.56 points, or 0.06 percent, at 948.48 and turned lower immediately, but soon returned to gains.

In the Kosdaq market, foreigners and institutions are net buyers of 44.9 billion won and 22.3 billion won, respectively, while individuals are net sellers of 53.4 billion won.

EcoPro BM is up 4.65 percent, EcoPro is up 5.68 percent and HLB is up 5.73 percent. Alteogen is down 4.21 percent and ABL Bio is down 0.24 percent.

(Yonhap)