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SEOUL, July 27 (Yonhap) -- After choppy trading, South Korean stocks finished nearly 1 percent higher Monday as investors bought tech shares amid a pause in Middle East hostilities. The local currency declined against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 65.13 points, or 1.9 percent, to close at 6,755.75, rebounding from a 5.72 percent drop on Friday.

Trade volume was slim at 270.9 million shares worth 23.5 trillion won (US$16 billion), with gainers beating decliners 494 to 372.

Individuals and institutions led the gains, scooping up a net 1.98 trillion won and 862.4 billion won worth of shares, respectively, while foreign investors dumped a net 2.89 trillion won.

Military tensions in the Middle East eased as the United States has suspended its two-week attacks on Iran since Friday.

In response, Iran also stopped conducting counterattacks, while holding talks with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz.

With the pause in the U.S.-Iran war, oil prices slid as Brent crude fell 4.7 percent to $92.27 a barrel and U.S. Texas Intermediate dropped 5.1 percent to $84.89 after briefly hitting $100 per barrel last week.

Investor sentiment was also buoyed by an eye-catching gathering of global tech leaders, including Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jensen Huang, and a series of investment agreements worth a combined US$950 billion in San Francisco over the weekend.

Analysts noted that China's ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT)'s successful market debut on the Shanghai bourse earlier in the day also affected investor sentiment here.

CXMT is the fourth-largest memory chipmaker in the world, following South Korea's Samsung Electronics and SK hynix and the U.S.' Micron Technology.

"Solid AI investment and collaborations with global tech companies offer upside pressure on the index," said Lee Kyung-min, an analyst from Daishin Securities, referring to the San Francisco gathering. "However, the listing of CXMT would have limited gains in the South Korean chip shares."

Large-cap semiconductor stocks finished in positive territory.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 1.8 percent to 254,000 won, and SK hynix jumped 3.24 percent to 1.8 million won.

Hanmi Semiconductor, a leading chip equipment manufacturer, added 2.25 percent to 204,500 won.

Internet giant Naver surged 8.43 percent to 225,000 won after announcing Nvidia's $1 billion investment as part of their partnership to build a new data center.

Top carmaker Hyundai Motor advanced 0.5 percent to 403,000 won, and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 1.06 percent to 333,000 won.

However, oil refinery and defense shares went south on eased Middle East tensions. Leading oil refinery SK Innovation tumbled 10.3 percent to 116,700 won, and defense giant Hanwha Aerospce sank 8.17 percent to 899,000 won.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,468.5 won against the U.S. dollar as of 3:30 p.m., down 1.9 won from the previous session.

brk@yna.co.kr

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