South Korean stocks rose for the third straight session Tuesday as foreign investors scooped up tech shares after an overnight tech rally on Wall Street. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 55.08 points, or 1.75 percent, to close at 3,199.27 points.

Trading volume was moderate at about 647.3 million shares worth some 15.2 trillion won ($12.8 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 495 to 333.

Foreigners purchased a net 1.16 trillion won, while retail investors offloaded a net 981.19 billion won. Institutional investors sold a net 185.43 billion won.

The stock market opened lower as investors took to the sidelines to assess the country's protracted fight against the current wave of the pandemic and new Chinese regulations that tighten the time under-18s in China spend on online video games.

The KOSPI turned to positive terrain later in the session on foreign investors' buying spree.

Overnight, the tech-heavy US Nasdaq composite rose 0.9 percent to a record high as investor sentiment was backed by the US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments Friday (US time) that signaled the Fed is in no rush to raise interest rates.

"(The KOSPI) turned higher after foreigners increased purchases of electronics-related shares," Mirae Asset Securities analyst Park Kwang-nam said.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics gained 2.82 percent to 76,700 won, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix surged 2.9 percent to 106,500 won.

Internet portal operator Naver moved up 2.57 percent to 439,000 won, and online messaging giant Kakao advanced 2.31 percent to 155,000 won.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor climbed 1.19 percent to 212,500 won, while leading chemical firm LG Chem shed 1.56 percent to 758,000 won.

Drugmaker SK Bioscience jumped 4.67 percent to 313,500 won, following its announcement a day earlier it began phase three clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

Video game maker Krafton slipped 1.11 percent to 491,500 won on China's new rules on online video games.

The local currency closed at 1,159.5 won against the US dollar, up 7.5 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)