South Korean stocks closed marginally higher Thursday buoyed by China's upbeat trade data that eased concern on a hard-landing of Asia's No. 1 economy, analysts said.

The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 5.64 points, or 0.3 percent, to finish at 1,883.97. Trading volume was moderate at 333.8 million shares worth 3.61 trillion won ($3.24 billion) with gainers outpacing decliners 427 to 335.

"China posted fairly good exports, boding well for chemical, shipbuilding segments here amid no fresh momentum to fuel market," said Kim Hyung-ryeol, an analyst at Kyobo Securities Co.

China's exports grew at a faster pace of 5.1 percent in July from a year earlier, beating the market consensus of a 2 percent on-year increase. Its imports also surged 10.9 percent in the same period.

LG Chem, a major chemical maker, gained 1.41 percent to 287,500 won and Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's biggest shipyard, shot up 2.12 percent to 217,000 won.

There was a technical rebound led by gains in defensive shares opting to make up for losses from the past few sessions, Kim added.

The state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. soared 4.68 percent to 29,100 won.
The KOSPI fell about 2.5 percent in the last three trading days.

Foreigners sold off a net 168.1 billion won for a third straight session, weighed down by the U.S. tapering of its stimulus.

Large-caps finished mixed. Samsung Electronics lost 0.41 percent to 1,217,000 won, while Hyundai Mobis, an auto parts maker, climbed 1.16 percent to 262,000 won.

Hyundai Merchant Marine, a local shipping firm and the largest shareholder of Hyundai Group's North Korea business arm Hyundai Asan Corp., surged to the daily limit of 15 percent to 17,800 won on news that the two Koreas have agreed to meet next week to resolve the Kaesong complex issue.

The local currency ended at 1,113.00 won against the greenback, up 5.7 won from Wednesday's close, mainly due to the KOSPI's gain, dealers said.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasuries shed 0.02 percentage point to 2.92 percent and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds also slipped 0.02 percentage point to 3.23 percent. (Yonhap News)