Seoul shares up sharply higher for 3rd day on chip rally

SEOUL, Aug. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks surged for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, driven by investors buying major chipmakers. The Korean won strengthened against the US dollar. The KOSPI index increased 233.51 points, or 3.68%, to close at 6,579.04, following gains of 0.65% and 0.73% in the two preceding sessions.

After opening 1.47% higher, the KOSPI continued its upward trend as foreigners and institutions purchased top chip firms. At 11:57 a.m., the exchange operator activated a buy-side sidecar, suspending program trading for the KOSPI-listed shares for five minutes. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.34%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.32% to 7,728.2, and the Nasdaq composite declined 0.60%.

Samsung Electronics, a semiconductor giant, rose 6.68% to 255,000 won per share, while its rival SK hynix gained 5.54% to 1.5 million won. At 3:30 p.m., the Korean won was quoted at 1,415.7 won against the US dollar, up 0.3 won from the previous day's close.