South Korean stocks closed higher on Friday as semiconductor shares rallied following overnight gains on Wall Street. The benchmark KOSPI rose 2.52 percent to 7,475.94. The Korean won also gained against the U.S. dollar.
The KOSPI climbed as much as 5.7 percent during the session, triggering a buy-side sidecar that halted program trading for five minutes. It was the third such activation this week. Gains moderated in the afternoon as investors locked in profits.
Investor sentiment improved after U.S. stocks closed higher overnight, supported by a rebound in semiconductor shares and easing oil prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.27 percent, the S&P 500 rose 0.81 percent and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.3 percent.
Samsung Electronics advanced 2.52 percent to 285,000 won. SK hynix edged down 0.27 percent to 2.18 million won. SK Square rose 6.18 percent and Samsung Electro-Mechanics gained 6.1 percent.
“Investor sentiment toward the semiconductor sector improved as Meta's capital spending plans and Micron's investment outlook helped ease concerns,” said Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daeshin Securities. The Korean won traded at 1,501.4 won per dollar at 3:30 p.m., up 4.7 won from the previous session.
