Seoul shares jump over 1% on tech gains, foreign buying

South Korean shares closed sharply higher Monday, helped by strong advances in tech and financial shares. The local currency lost ground against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) added 26.38 points, or 1.02 percent, to close at 2,623.29.

Trading volume was moderate at 391 million shares worth 8.3 trillion won ($6.12 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 488 to 395.

Foreigners net bought 77.6 billion won worth of shares while retail investors dumped 440 billion won. Institutions scooped up a net 325 billion won worth of shares.

Foreign investors have remained net sellers of local shares for two consecutive months, net selling 2.51 trillion won and 7.36 trillion won worth of listed shares in August and September, respectively, according to earlier reports.

"Whether foreigners will stop their aggressive net selling centered around semiconductor shares will be a major deciding factor for the local market this week," Kiwoom Securities analyst Han Ji-young said, noting offshore investors have already net sold some 1 trillion won worth of shares this month.

Tech giant Samsung Electronics surged 2.53 percent to close at 60,800 won, while its local chipmaking rival SK hynix advanced 0.81 percent to 187,500 won.

Financial firms also finished bullish, with local industry leader KB Financial spiking 6.46 percent to 97,200 won, while Woori Financial surged 3.96 percent to 16,540 won and Shinhan Financial added 1.04 percent to 58,100 won.

Top battery maker LG Energy Solution lost 1.22 percent to 406,000 won, with its local rival Samsung SDI tumbling 3.75 percent to 359,000 won.

Leading carmaker Hyundai Motor stayed flat at 248,500 won, while its smaller affiliate Kia shed 0.49 percent to 100,600 won.

The local currency was trading at 1,355.9 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., down 6.40 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)