(ATTN: ADDS bond yields at bottom)

SEOUL, Aug. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks ended sharply higher for the third straight session Wednesday as investors scooped up major chipmakers. The Korean won gained against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 233.51 points, or 3.68 percent, to close at 6,579.04, following 0.65 percent and 0.73 percent gains in the previous two sessions.

After opening 1.47 percent higher, the KOSPI further added gains as foreigners and institutions scooped up major chip heavyweights.

At 11:57 a.m., the bourse operator activated a buy-side sidecar. Program trading for the KOSPI-listed shares was suspended for five minutes.

Trade volume was moderate at 355 million shares worth 26.21 trillion won (US$18.49 billion) trading hands, with losers outnumbering gainers 477 to 378.

Foreigners and institutions purchased a net 2.83 trillion won and 527.7 billion won worth of stocks, respectively, while retail investors alone offloaded a net 3.19 trillion won in shares.

"Large order backlogs and new orders reaffirmed that investment in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and semiconductor demand remain solid, stimulating investor sentiment," Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, said.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.34 percent, while the S&P 500 declined 0.32 percent to 7,728.2. The Nasdaq composite shed 0.60 percent.

In Seoul, large-cap stocks finished higher.

Semiconductor heavyweight Samsung Electronics shot up 6.68 percent to 255,000 won per share and its rival SK hynix gained 5.54 percent to 1.5 million won.

SK Square, the parent of SK hynix, jumped 8.36 percent to 1.02 million won, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, an electronics component affiliate of Samsung Electronics, increased 5.78 percent to 1.34 million won.

LG Energy Solution went up 1.13 percent to 358,500 won, and No. 1 automaker Hyundai Motor increased 1.61 percent to 409,500 won.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,415.7 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., up 0.3 won from the close of stock trading the day before.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys went down 1.7 basis points to 3.791 percent, while the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds shed 1.7 basis points to 4.025 percent.

khj@yna.co.kr

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