South Korean shares traded higher late Thursday morning and are poised to close at a fresh record high, as foreign and institutional buyers scooped up market heavyweights amid upward momentum, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index sharply gained 21.88 points, or 0.94 percent, to 2,339.22 as of 11:20 a.m.

Large caps on the Seoul bourse were mostly bullish, with telecom and steel shares leading the gains.

Market behemoth Samsung Electronics increased 1.07 percent, and major chipmaker SK hynix advanced 0.9 percent. Posco, the No. 1 steelmaker, jumped 2.86 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,118.50 won against the US dollar, up 7.90 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)