South Korean stocks rose for the fourth consecutive session Wednesday as strong exports boosted investor sentiment. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 7.75 points, or 0.24 percent, to close at 3,207.02 points.

Trading volume was moderate at about 738.27 million shares, worth some 13.29 trillion won ($11.2 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 589 to 239.

Foreigners purchased a net 119 billion won worth of local shares, while retail investors offloaded a net 105 billion won. Institutional investors sold a net 31 billion won.

The main index started off the session lower, tracking a muted session overnight on Wall Street but later swung to gains on robust export data.

South Korea's exports last month jumped 35 percent on-year thanks to continued global demand for chips and autos, and extended their gains for the 10th month.

"Unlike the previous session, foreign buying was weaker and limited the index's gains," Daishin Securities analyst Lee Kyoung-min said. "But strong exports last month had a positive impact on investor sentiment."

Outbound shipments of semiconductors last month reached a record high for this year at $11.7 billion.

Most large caps in Seoul closed mixed.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics inched up 0.13 percent to 76,800 won, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix gained 1.41 percent to 108,000 won.

Internet portal operator Naver moved up 1.37 percent to 445,000 won, while online messaging giant Kakao slipped 0.65 percent to 154,000 won.

Pharmaceutical firm Samsung Biologics shed 0.31 percent to 962,000 won, and Celltrion fell 0.85 percent to 290,500 won.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor climbed 1.18 percent to 215,000 won, while leading chemical firm LG Chem slumped 4.88 percent to 721,000 won.

Online lender KakaoBank surged 5.84 percent to 88,800 won.

The local currency closed at 1,157.2 won against the US dollar, up 2.3 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)