South Korean shares trimmed earlier gains late Wednesday morning amid renewed concerns over the U.S. banking crisis.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was up 6.81 points, or 0.27 percent, to 2,487.32 as of 11:20 a.m.
The main index bucked overnight losses on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.5 percent amid a sell-off in banks.
Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and other U.S. lenders plunged after JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s chief Jamie Dimon warned the U.S. banking crisis will be felt for years to come.
Foreigners sold a net 142 billion won (US$108 million) worth of stocks, offsetting institutions and individuals' stock purchases valued at 140 billion won.
In Seoul, large-cap stocks were mixed across the board.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. rose 0.2 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. climbed 0.6 percent, top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. gained 0.6 percent, and leading car battery maker LG Energy Solution was up 0.4 percent.
The Korea Exchange (KRX) banned the short selling of SK hynix shares on Wednesday after more than 10 million SK hynix stocks worth more than 830 billion won were short sold a day earlier.
If SK hynix falls by more than 5 percent in Wednesday's session, the short-selling ban on the stock will be extended, according to the KRX, the country's main stock exchange.
Among decliners, national flag carrier Korean Air Co. fell 0.2 percent, leading refiner SK Innovation Co. declined 1.1 percent, and state utility Korea Gas Corp. shed 0.2 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,311.80 won against the U.S. dollar, up 4 won from the previous session's close.
Source: Yonhap News Agency