South Korean stocks advanced for a second consecutive day Tuesday, backed by expectations for strong corporate earnings. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) advanced 28.54 points, or 0.94 percent, to close at 3,049.08 points.

Trading volume was moderate at about 547 million shares worth some 9.2 trillion won ($7.9 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 574 to 271.

Foreigners bought a net 106 billion won, while retail investors sold 440 billion won. Institutions purchased a net 325 billion won.

Stocks started strong, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street that stemmed from expectations of good corporate earnings.

Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 0.9 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.18 percent.

"Tesla is widely seen as a market bellwether in growth stocks, and its strong performance last night seems to have boosted investor sentiment (for a solid earnings report season)," said Yuanta Securities analyst Cho Byung-hyun.

Bio, bank and tech advances led the market advance.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics added 1.28 percent to 71,100 won, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix gained 2 percent to 102,000 won on robust third-quarter earnings.

Leading car battery firm LG Chem increased 1.1 percent to 830,000 won, and pharmaceutical giant Samsung Biologics climbed 0.23 percent to 879,000 won.

Hyundai Motor, the country's largest carmaker, gained 1.18 percent to 213,500 won. Top banking stock Kakao Bank jumped 3.34 percent to 61,900 won.

The local currency closed at 1,167.6 won against the US dollar, up 0.8 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)