South Korean stocks closed sharply higher Tuesday, snapping a three-day losing streak, buoyed by gains in major chipmakers and automakers, as the United States has confirmed that tariff rates on imports from Seoul would be lowered to 15 percent retroactively. The Korean won increased against the US dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 74.56 points, or 1.9 percent, to close at 3,994.93.
Trade volume was moderate at 315.13 million shares worth 12.23 trillion won ($8.32 billion), with losers beating winners 641 to 223.
Foreign and institutional investors purchased a net 121.47 billion won and 39.28 billion won worth of stocks, respectively, while individuals offloaded 157.63 billion won worth of shares alone.
The index had opened markedly higher, despite US losses.
Overnight, Wall Street gave back some of last week's rally as Bitcoin fell again. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite was 0.2 percent lower.
The KOSPI extended further gains after US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed that Washington's 25 percent tariffs on South Korean autos have been lowered to 15 percent, effective Nov. 1, under a bilateral trade and investment deal.
The lowered tariff was part of the two countries' trade deal finalized on Oct. 29 during a summit between President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump.
"Foreign investors have resumed net buying of semiconductor stocks," said Lee Jae-won, an analyst at Shinhan Securities, adding that Lutnick's announcement also helped drive gains in Hyundai Motor and Kia.
In Seoul, most large-cap shares ended higher.
Semiconductor shares led the gain. Samsung Electronics went up 2.58 percent to 103,400 won, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix increased 3.72 percent to 558,000 won.
Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution was up 0.48 percent to 415,000 won.
Carmakers also gained momentum, with No. 1 automaker Hyundai Motor jumping 4.52 percent to 266,000 won and its sister automaker Kia adding 4.19 percent to 117,000 won on reduced tariff concerns.
The local currency was quoted at 1,468.4 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., up 1.5 won from the previous session.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, ended higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys went down 2.3 percent to 3.022 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds decreased 2.2 basis points to 3.211 percent. (Yonhap)
