Seoul shares ended sharply higher Thursday, helped by gains in tech shares after Nvidia's earning surprise, as investors are awaiting the Federal Reserve chief's speech for any clues in its rate policy. The Korean won sharply rose against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 32.18 points, or 1.28 percent, to close at 2,537.68. Trading volume was moderate at 433.34 million shares worth 9.94 trillion won (US$7.5 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 538 to 321.
Institutions and foreigners bought a combined 406 billion won worth of stocks, exceeding individuals' stock selling valued at 398 billion won.
Overnight, U.S. stocks finished higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.5 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advancing 1.6 percent.
Nvidia's better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter gave a boost to tech stocks, with its revenue jumping 171 percent on-year driven by the artificial intelligence craze, analysts said.
Investors expect Fed Chair Jerome Powell will outline the U.S. central bank's policy steps in the future at the bank's annual summit slated later this week.
In Seoul, tech, auto and energy stocks led gains.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. rose 1.6 percent to 68,200 won, No. 2 carmaker Kia Corp. climbed 0.1 percent to 78,800 won, leading battery maker LG Energy Solution gained 1.9 percent to 535,000 won, and leading steelmaker POSCO Holdings jumped 5.1 percent to 579,000 won.
Among decliners, the country's sole aircraft manufacturer, Korea Aerospace Industries Co., fell 0.4 percent to 48,400 won, state utility Korea Electric Power Corp. declined 0.5 percent to 18,000 won, and leading wireless services provider SK Telecom Co. shed 0.2 percent to 47,100 won.
The local currency closed at 1,322.60 won against the U.S. dollar, up 17.1 won from the previous session's close.
Source: Yonhap News Agency