SEOUL, July 09 (AJP) - South Korean stocks snapped a three-day losing streak on Thursday, closing marginally higher after surrendering most of their early gains in a volatile session that underscored the fragility of investor sentiment.
The benchmark KOSPI closed at 7,291.91, up 0.62 percent. The index opened 3.31 percent higher and briefly climbed above the 7,500 level, but the early rally quickly faded after Bahrain and Kuwait sounded warning sirens and Qatar issued emergency security alerts following renewed U.S. strikes on Iran, reviving fears of a wider Gulf conflict. The index later slipped into negative territory before recovering into the close. Even after the modest rebound, the main index remained nearly 800 points below its 8,088.34 close on July 3, following a slide to 7,246.79 a day earlier.
Retail investors were net sellers, unloading 1.33 trillion won, while foreign and institutional investors purchased a net 146.1 billion won and 1.29 trillion won, respectively.
Semiconductor shares led the rebound after suffering steep losses over the previous two sessions. Samsung Electronics edged up 0.18 percent to 278,000 won, while SK hynix jumped 5.30 percent to 2,186,000 won, supported by bargain hunting and optimism ahead of its planned American depositary receipt (ADR) listing on Nasdaq on Friday.
Among other heavyweight stocks, SK Square rose 4.49 percent to 1,327,000 won, Samsung Electro-Mechanics gained 0.95 percent to 1,493,000 won, and KB Financial Group added 0.23 percent to 171,400 won.
Losses were concentrated in autos, financials and healthcare. Hyundai Motor fell 3.68 percent to 445,500 won, LG Energy Solution slipped 0.63 percent to 313,500 won, Samsung Life Insurance dropped 5.78 percent to 326,000 won, Samsung C&T declined 4.18 percent to 378,500 won, Samsung Biologics lost 2.79 percent to 1,325,000 won, Kia slid 7.65 percent to 144,800 won, Hanwha Aerospace fell 8.45 percent to 953,000 won, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries eased 1.93 percent to 507,000 won, and Shinsegae slipped 2.14 percent to 105,000 won.
The KOSDAQ also recovered from intraday volatility, rising 1.15 percent to close at 794.00 after briefly climbing to 819.69, but ultimately failed to reclaim the 800-point level.
Institutional investors bought a net 308.1 billion won worth of KOSDAQ shares, while foreign investors added 22 billion won. Retail investors remained net sellers, offloading 321.5 billion won.
Jusung Engineering surged 11.50 percent, while EcoPro gained 1.79 percent and Rainbow Robotics rose 0.58 percent. On the downside, Alteogen fell 4.31 percent, EcoPro BM lost 0.98 percent, ABL Bio slipped 1.23 percent, and LigaChem Biosciences declined 1.83 percent.
Elsewhere in the region, Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 1.38 percent to 67,743.85, rebounding alongside semiconductor-related shares. Advantest and Tokyo Electron were among the major gainers after reports that China may allow limited sales of Nvidia's H200 chips to selected domestic AI firms lifted chip sentiment.
China's Shanghai Composite added 1.65 percent to 4,036.59, extending gains despite earlier inflation concerns. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was the lone major loser, slipping 0.70 percent to 24,030.18.
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