Seoul shares closed higher Wednesday as big-cap tech shares gained ground tracking a U.S. tech rebound. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) increased 17.66 points, or 0.64 percent, to 2,792.05.
Trade volume was moderate at 524.6 million shares worth 11.02 trillion won (US$7.9 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 510 to 355.
Foreigners purchased 502.6 billion won worth of shares, offsetting retail investors and institutions’ sale of shares worth a combined 529 billion won.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.76 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite and S and P 500 gained 1.26 percent and 0.39 percent, respectively, as megacap tech shares gained ground.
“Shares related to AI chips drove up the KOSPI following the recovery of big tech shares on Wall Street,” Lee Jae-won, an analyst at Shinhan Securities, said.
Tech behemoth Samsung Electronics added 0.62 percent to 81,300 won, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix surged 5.33 p
ercent to 237,000 won, tracking AI chip giant Nvidia’s gains.
Hanmi Semiconductor also jumped 3.99 percent on the Nvidia effect.
Top automaker Hyundai Motor rose 0.35 percent to 289,500 won and its smaller affiliate Kia jumped 1.4 percent to 130,800 won.
IT shares also gained ground, with internet portal operator Naver up 1.2 percent to 168,400 won, and Kakao, the operator of the country’s top mobile messenger, up 1.46 percent to 41,600 won.
Game maker Krafton soared 2.48 percent to 289,500 won, and SK Square shot up 6.9 percent to 102,200 won.
The local currency ended at 1,388.70 won against the U.S. dollar, down 1.2 won from the previous session’s close.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasurys rose 1.4 basis points to 3.215 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds gained 1.3 basis points to 3.230 percent.
Source: Yonhap News Agency