Seoul shares rose on Friday after losses that pushed the index to a one-month low in the previous session, fuelled by techs and shipyards such as Samsung Electronics and STX Offshore. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) finished up 1.42 percent at 1,746.24 points.
Retail investors were buyers of a net 118.8 billion won ($100.5 million) worth of stocks. Samsung Electronics, the world's No 1 memory chip maker, gained 2 percent after three consecutive losing sessions. LG Electronics, the world's No 3 handset maker, rose 1.5 percent after a four-session losing streak.
Airlines rose boosted by strong earnings from Korean Air Line. Korean Air ended up 2.8 percent and Asiana Airlines, the country's No 2 airline, rose 2.6 percent. Shares in Hyundai Motor underperformed, gaining just 0.4 percent, as parent Hyundai Motor Group is also widely expected to bid for the builder.
Shares in STX Pan Ocean rose 5.1 percent, helped further by firm second quarter earnings. The shipping firm late on Thursday reported a second quarter operating profit of 43.9 billion won, swinging from last year's 80.2 billion won loss. Institutions bought a net 66.2 billion won worth of stocks and foreign investors sold a net 161 billion won. Trading volume was 273.7 million shares worth 4.4 trillion won.