An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap)
Seoul shares ended on foreign buying on Wednesday. The South Korean won rose against the US dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 11.66 points, or 0.47 percent, to close at 2,473.11 points.
Trading volume was moderate at 393.27 million shares worth 7.4 trillion won ($5.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 466 to 382.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.3 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.6 percent on robust economic data showing the world's largest economy is still chugging along.
Foreigners and individuals bought a combined 210.5 billion won worth of stocks, offsetting institutions' stock selling valued at 227 billion won.
Investors remain watchful over the Fed's monetary policy as the US bank signaled that it will do what is required to combat high inflation despite recession risks, analysts said.
In Seoul, large-cap stocks closed mixed.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. rose 0.3 percent to 61,500 won, national flag carrier Korean Air Lines Co. climbed 5.2 percent to 26,400 won, and leading home appliance maker LG Electronics Inc. gained 2.4 percent to 96,000 won.
Among decliners, top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. fell 0.3 percent to 196,500 won, state-run utility Korea Electric Power Corp. declined 0.5 percent to 21,800 won, and the country's leading shipbuilding group HD Hyundai shed 1 percent to 56,600 won.
The local currency was trading at 1,310.10 won against the US dollar, up 0.20 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)
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