Seoul stocks surge more than 1% on tech gains

South Korean stocks climbed more than 1 percent on Friday, rising for a three-day winning streak, on the back of tech gains, analysts said. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.

After a choppy session, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) surged 42.44 points, or 1.57 percent, to close at 2,750.26 points.

Trading volume was moderate at about 527 million shares worth some 11.1 trillion won ($9.3 billion), with gainers far outnumbering losers 767 to 122.

Institutions and foreigners bought a net 214.4 billion won and 194.3 billion won, respectively, while retail investors offloaded 414.6 billion won.

Stocks got off to a bullish start despite overnight losses on Wall Street following the "earning shock" of Facebook's parent company.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged 3.7 percent amid worries over tightening monetary policy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.5 percent, and the broad-based S&P 500 shed 2.4 percent.

"Investor sentiment improved following strength in US equity futures, and reopening-related stocks also traded bullish on the possibility of the government loosening antivirus measures," Kim Seok-hwan, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities, said.

Most large caps closed higher in Seoul.

Tech shares were bullish, with market kingpin Samsung Electronics closing 0.95 percent higher to 74,000 won. No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix increased 2.9 percent to 124,000 won to continue a three-day winning streak. LG Energy Solution jumped 5.6 percent to close at 504,000 won.

Internet portal operator Naver moved up 2.18 percent to 327,500 won, and LG Chem inched up 0.15 percent to 678,000 won.

Among losers, top automaker Hyundai Motor went down 0.78 percent to 190,000 won, and leading pharmaceutical firm Samsung Biologics lost 0.38 percent to 769,000 won.

The local currency closed at 1,197 won against the US dollar, up 9.4 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)