Kospi closes 0.84% up with Apple's influence on Wall Street

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,728.17 points on Wednesday, up 0.84 percent, or 22.85 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Stocks closed higher Wednesday as tech shares tracked advances on Wall Street ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate decision. The local currency gained ground against the dollar.

The Kospi added 22.85 points, or 0.84 percent, to close at 2,728.17.

Trade volume was moderate at 499.4 million shares worth 11.5 trillion won ($8.35 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 502 to 372.

Foreign investors net purchased 234.4 billion won worth of local shares, one day after snapping their three-session buying spree. Institutions also scooped up a net 10.3 billion won while retail investors offloaded 243 billion won.

The Kospi opened higher, tracking overnight gains of U.S. tech shares led by Apple.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.31 percent to close at 38,747.42, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.88 percent to reach a record high of 17,343.55, with Apple jumping more than 7 percent after unveiling its free-to-use AI services.

"Apple was the hero in the U.S. stock market the previous day. Apple's advance led the upward movement of S&P 500 and Nasdaq, but caution will still prevail in the local stock market ahead of the conclusion of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting and the release of the U.S. consumer price index," Hana Securities researcher Kim Dae-wook said.

The outcome of the two-day FOMC is due Wednesday.

In Seoul, large caps closed mixed.

Tech shares closed higher, with Samsung Electronics soaring 1.73 percent to 76,500 won, while SK hynix surged 1.18 percent to 215,000 won.

Battery shares ended lower. LG Energy Solution lost 1.40 percent to 351,500 won, and Samsung SDS slipped 0.51 percent to 154,800 won.

Autos closed mixed, with Hyundai Motor losing 0.37 percent to 270,000 won, while Kia added 0.41 percent to 122,500 won.

The local currency closed at 1,376.20 won against the dollar, down 2.2 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year government bonds fell 3.5 basis points to 3.307 percent, and the return on the benchmark U.S. 10-year government bonds dropped 6.1 basis points to 4.402 percent.

BY KIM JU-YEON, YONHAP [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]