▲ This photo taken Aug. 14, 2026, shows the dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul during morning trading hours. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Aug. 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korean shares ended sharply higher for the fifth straight session Friday as investors snapped up shares of major chipmakers. The Korean won rose against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 164.60 points, or 2.42 percent, to close at 6,977.94

On Wall Street overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.13 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.81 percent.

In Seoul, technology stocks led the advance.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 2.4 percent to 274,500 won, while rival chipmaker SK hynix gained 3.26 percent to 1.65 million won.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,418.3 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., up 1.1 won from the end of stock trading the previous day.

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