Seoul shares rose 0.2 percent boosted by techs such as Samsung SDI, but gains were limited as investors turned cautious ahead of the summit of the Group of 20 major economies meeting in the city this week. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index finished up 0.18 percent at 1,942.41 points.
"The market is experiencing a technical correction at the index's current level, and amid caution before G20 and key Chinese data later this week, buying appetite is weak," said Bae Sung-young, a market analyst at Hyundai Securities. China's commerce minister said on Sunday that the country hopes this week's G20 summit in Seoul will help promote recovery in the global economy and deepen reforms of the world's financial system.
Shares in Samsung SDI rose 2.9 percent after news the company had won a contract to supply lithium-ion batteries for Chrysler's upcoming electric vehicle jointly with Germany's Robert Bosch. Memory chip makers outperformed, buoyed by a firm gain in the US semiconductor index, with shares in Samsung Electronics, the world's No 1 memory chip maker, finishing up 0.3 percent.
Shares in LG Display, the world's No 2 flat panel maker, finished up 1.4 percent. Falls in the Baltic Dry Index, which tracks the cost of shipping key commodities, weighed on shipbuilders. Shares in Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's biggest shipbuilder, shed 1.5 percent and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering ended down 0.5 percent. Elsewhere gains in steelmakers gave market support, as shares in POSCO, the world's No 3 steelmaker, rose 1.2 percent and Hyundai Steel jumped 5 percent.