SKorean stock market shrugs off rocket launch

SEOUL (AFP) — South Korea's stock market shrugged off North Korea's rocket launch, rising 1.1 percent some 50 minutes after trading began.
At 9.49 am (0049 GMT) the KOSPI index had risen to 1,298.01 in light volume.
"The possibility of North Korea's launch was already factored into the market, and the launch itself seem to have removed an uncertainty," Bae Sung-Young of Hyundai Securities told Dow Jones Newswires.
He said the market was encouraged by Friday's Wall Street rise despite poor US jobs data.
North Korea on Sunday launched what it said was a communications satellite, earning condemnation from much of the world for what was seen as a provocative missile test.
The UN Security Council held three hours of closed-door talks Sunday which were adjourned with no immediate agreement on how to respond to the launch.