[THE INVESTOR] South Korean shares rebounded late morning on Sept. 27, amid institutional buying, with investors eyeing the first US presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

The benchmark KOSPI rose 4.17 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,051.28 as of 11:20 a.m.

Large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics falling 0.13 percent, and global chipmaker SK hynix up 0.63 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor fell 0.36 percent, while its smaller affiliate Kia Motors traded 0.46 percent higher.

POSCO, the No. 1 steelmaker, advanced 2.23 percent.

Naver, the operator of the country’s top internet portal, rose 0.11 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,105.65 won against the US dollar, up 2.25 won from the previous session’s close.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)