Seoul stocks open sharply higher on robust earnings from Nvidia

Seoul stocks opened sharply higher Thursday as Nvidia's market estimate-beating strong earnings helped ease woes over a slowdown in demand for semiconductors.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 159.24 points, or 2.34 percent, to 6,967.45.

Overnight, major stock indexes on Wall Street closed lower, with the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq inching down 0.02 percent and 0.08 percent, respectively.

Nvidia's second-quarter earnings, revealed after the closing bell, eased f