SEOUL: South Korean shares rose on Thursday, tracking a broad overnight rally in Wall Street triggered by upbeat U.S economic data.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was up 0.16 percent at 2,038.92 points as of 0220 GMT, just below its 14-day moving average.
Risk appetites were bolstered by U.S housing data showing a sharp increase in new home sales, as well as dovish comments from a senior Federal Reserve official.
Samsung Electronics edged up 0.5 percent, a small rebound from its recent string of fresh 2-year lows, as bargain hunters locked in the tech giant's recently battered shares.
"Samsung's third and fourth quarter earnings season will prove to be a difficult period, but it is expected to recover in 2015 as its plan to tackle struggling smartphone sales begins to materialize," Daishin Securities said in a note.
Shares in IT services provider SK C&C jumped 4.8 percent to reach a fresh record high, with investors anticipating the IPO of industry peer Samsung SDS to create a more competitive environment.
Samsung SDS, an affiliate of Samsung Group, has set a preliminary price of 15.47 trillion won ($14.85 billion) for its initial share offering, expected some time in November.
Traditional defensive plays such as telecoms underperformed however, with SK Telecom, South Korea's largest mobile services provider, falling 2.9 percent while KT Corp slid 3.2 percent.
Foreign investors sold South Korean stocks for a sixth straight session, offloading a net 58.7 billion won ($56.35 million) worth of shares near midday, though volume was waning after a 863 billion won exodus by offshore funds over the previous five sessions.
The South Korean won ticked lower as the dollar resumed its global rally on signs of divergent economic fortunes between the U.S and other major economies.
The local currency was quoted at 1,041.4 to the dollar as of 0220 GMT, compared to Wednesday's close of 1,039.9.
September futures on three-year treasury bonds rose 2 basis points to trade at 107.46.
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