(LEAD) Seoul shares soar over 4 pct to snap 3-day slide on tech rally, oil prices fall

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SEOUL, Nov. 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks finished more than 4 percent higher Tuesday to snap their three consecutive sessions of sharp decline, driven by strong gains in technology shares as oil prices dropped sharply on hopes for the possible end of the war in the Middle East.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed up 220.28 points, or 4.39 percent, to 5,239.13 after rising as high as 5,300.92.

After opening 4.55 percent higher, the Korea Exchange activated a buy-side sidecar for the main bourse at 9:06 a.m., suspending program trading for KOSPI-listed shares for five minutes.

Trade volume was light at 241 million shares worth 16.2 trillion won (US$12.1 billion), with winners sharply outnumbering losers 714 to 174.

Foreigners returned to net buyers, scooping up a net 365.9 billion won worth of shares, and institutions purchased a net 489 billion won. However, individuals dumped a net 1.3 trillion won.

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters overnight that he is not prepared to resume military strikes against Iran, dragging down crude oil prices.

On Wall Street, three major stock indexes closed higher, led by technology shares, with the PHLX chip index rising 6.85 percent.

However, Nvidia slumped 4.2 percent as the company's board will launch a probe into its CEO Jensen Huang over his admission of an affair with a purported Chinese spy.

"U.S. semiconductor shares rose for the second consecutive session and the PHLX semiconductor index increased sharply, boosting South Korean stocks within the semiconductor value chain," said Kim Seok-hwan, an analyst from Mirae Asset Securities.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics jumped 4.74 percent to 198,000 won, and chipmaker SK hynix soared 6.69 percent to 1.2 million won.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics, an electronic component affiliate of Samsung Electronics, advanced 4.63 percent to 882,000 won, and SK Square, the parent of SK hynix, increased 5.26 percent to 760,000 won.

Airliners were among the biggest winners on lower oil prices as Korean Air surged 11.51 percent to 32,450 won and Asiana Airlines spiked 11.68 percent to 8,700 won.

Defense giant Hanwha Aerospace rose 3.13 percent to 659,000 won, and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution advanced 3.93 percent to 330,500 won.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,337.5 won against the U.S. dollar as of 3:30 p.m., up 9.6 won from the previous stock trading session's close.

brk@yna.co.kr
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