South Korean stocks rose more than 1 percent Wednesday, driven by advances in top-cap Samsung Electronics and other tech shares. The local currency fell against the US dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 28.95 points, or 1.16 percent, to close at 2,521.05, extending the winning streak to a fourth session.
Trade volume was moderate at 356.27 million shares worth 10.24 trillion won ($7.03 billion), with winners outnumbering losers 459 to 407.
The index opened lower, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, and had moved within a tight range before gathering ground.
Foreigners and institutions purchased a net 203.01 billion won and 110.77 billion won worth of shares, respectively, while retail investors shed a net 387 billion won worth of shares.
Most large-cap shares finished higher.
Tech giant Samsung Electronics soared 3.43 percent to 57,300 won, as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Tuesday expressed his strong confidence in Samsung's achievements in memory history, especially in the high bandwidth memory field.
Huang also told reporters on the sidelines of the ongoing CES 2025 in Las Vegas that Samsung has to "engineer a new design," but "they can do it. They are working very fast. They're very committed to do it."
"Samsung's fourth-quarter earnings fell short of market expectations, but it has well been reflected in its share price. Investors are expected to shift their focus on other factors," said Han Ji-young, an expert from Kiwoom Securities.
Leading electric vehicle battery maker LG Energy Solution advanced 2.19 percent to 373,500 won, and LG Chem went up 0.39 percent to 256,500 won.
Major bio shares gathered ground. Samsung Biologics surged 2.54 percent to 10,008,000 won, and Celltrion increased 0.33 percent to 184,500 won.
Carmakers also ended higher. Top automaker Hyundai Motor advanced 1.18 percent to 213,500 won, and its sister affiliate Kia jumped 1.92 percent to 101,000 won.
Top steelmaker POSCO Holdings gained 0.38 percent to 263,500 won.
But chip giant SK hynix shed 0.15 percent to 194,700 won, while top portal operator Naver slid 0.48 percent to 207,000 won.
The local currency was quoted at 1,455.0 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., down 1.5 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)
