Seoul shares closed slightly higher on Monday after last week's rally as investors stayed on cautious footing ahead of key events this week such as a crucial European leader's summit and the European Central Bank's final policy meeting of the year.
Program-linked transactions accounted for a net 332.4 billion won ($293.8 million) worth of buying, helping the index hold on to slender gains while foreign investors offloaded 67.2 billion won worth of shares and retail investors dumped 40.1 billion worth, selling for a sixth consecutive session.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index finished up 0.36 percent at 1,922.60 points. The KOSPI 200 index gained 0.41 percent, while the junior KOSDAQ rose 1.5 percent. The performance of IT heavyweights were mixed, with LG Electronics dipping 2.75 percent, but Samsung Electronics up 1.5 percent after a US court ruled against a bid by Apple Inc to halt the US sale of Samsung's Galaxy line of products. LG Electronics announced last month that it was planning to issue $945 million worth of shares to fund new investments.