SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics (KS:005930) shares extended sharp gains into a second-straight day, buoyed by hopes that the tech giant will turn its fortunes around in the fourth quarter and possibly initiate a share buy-back programme.
Samsung was up more than 4.2 percent as of 0120 GMT, after closing 4.5 percent higher in the previous session. Its shares recently had been languishing just above a two-year trough registered on October 3.
The world's biggest smartphone maker announced on Thursday that its third-quarter operating profit had fallen by 60.1 percent, in line with its guidance released earlier in the month, but tipped itself for a rebound in the fourth quarter on the back of strong demand for televisions and memory chips.
Market players are also hopeful that Samsung will buy back some its own shares to boost stock prices, although the tech giant has remained mum on the prospects.
(Reporting by Joonhee Yu; Editing by Michael Perry)