Seoul shares up 0.45% in late morning trade

South Korean stocks extended gains late Monday on increased foreign buying.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 10.49 points, or 0.45 percent, to 2,365.79 as of 11:15 a.m.

The broad index didn't track Friday's losses on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.01 percent.

Kim Ye-eun, an analyst at Cape Investment & Securities, said foreign investors bought large-cap stocks, giving a boost to the main index.

Bae Sung-young, a market analyst at KB Securities Co., also said foreign buying drove up the index.

Large-cap stocks were mixed across the board. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. gained 0.17 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. was up 2.80 percent.

Meanwhile, top auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis Co. fell 0.18 percent, and the state-run utility firm Korea Electric Power Corp. was down 0.35 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,119.10 won against the US dollar, up 1.60 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)