South Korean shares closed at their highest level of this year on Wednesday on the back of foreign buying, helped by market kingpin Samsung Electronics' rally on its robust outlook. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 15.45 points, or 0.77 percent, to 2,027.08, the highest closing level this year. Trade volume was moderate at 490 million shares worth 5.7 trillion won ($4.92 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 411 to 395.


Foreign investors bought a net 314.3 billion won to push up the index. Individuals and institutions sold a net 312.1 billion won and 42.5 billion won, respectively.

"It looks like the money flow in finance and investment markets positively affected the (stock) market," said Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daeshin Investment & Securities.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.57 percent to 1,406,000 won, extending its winning streak for the sixth consecutive day, on the optimism for its rosy second-quarter earnings. It marks the first time in 13 months that Samsung surpassed the 1,400,000 won mark.

State-run Korea Electric Power Corp. rose 0.83 percent to 60,500 won, and leading steelmaker POSCO soared 3.46 percent to 224,500 won.

Samsung SDS, a key IT affiliate of the country's No. 1 conglomerate Samsung Group, increased 1.33 percent to 152,500 won after the company announced a plan to split off its logistics business.

South Korea's won closed at 1,156.20 against the greenback, up 6.10 won from the previous session's close. It rose for the fifth consecutive day.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on a three-year Treasury fell 2.7 basis points to 1.378 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bond shed 2.5 basis points to 1.469 percent. (Yonhap)