Seoul Shares Rebound 0.73 Percent After Prior Day's 9 Percent Drop

Seoul shares closed higher Tuesday after reversing an early decline, with the benchmark KOSPI ending 49.9 points, or 0.73 percent, above its previous close at 6,856.83. The index had opened 0.56 percent lower and fell to an intraday low of 6,448.86 before institutions and foreign investors bought a net 3.22 trillion won and 952.7 billion won worth of stocks, respectively.

Retail investors sold a net 4.14 trillion won.

The rebound followed a 9 percent plunge in the KOSPI the previous session that was driven by a sell-off in technology stocks. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.26 percent while the Nasdaq composite dropped 1.55 percent. Investors monitored developments in the Middle East after the latest exchange of attacks between the United States and Iran over the status of the Strait of Hormuz.

They also awaited U.S. inflation data due later in the day for clues about the outlook for interest rates.

Technology stocks led the gains.

Samsung Electronics rose 3.34 percent to 263,000 won, while SK hynix climbed 3.69 percent to 1,913,000 won. Korean Air rose 2.51 percent to 26,500 won and HMM gained 1.07 percent to 19,760 won. Hyundai Motor fell 4.39 percent to 424,500 won and Hanwha Aerospace declined 6.84 percent to 872,000 won.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,493 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., up 10.4 won from the previous session. Bond prices closed lower, with the yield on three-year Treasurys rising 7.8 basis points to 3.887 percent and the yield on five-year government bonds climbing 8.7 basis points to 4.128 percent.