▲ This photo taken Aug. 31, 2026, shows the dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul during morning trading hours. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Aug. 31 (Yonhap) -- Seoul shares ended higher Monday on a rebound in tech stocks, as investors remained cautious about a possible interest rate hike following Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium.

The Korean won rose against the U.S. dollar.

After opening 2.58 percent lower, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) erased its earlier losses to close up 31.14 points, or 0.46 percent, at 6,820.02.

The advance bucked losses on Wall Street on Friday (U.S. time). The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.02 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 0.52 percent.

But in Seoul, institutions, foreign investors and retail investors were all net sellers, offloading 793.12 billion won (US$579 million), 639.86 billion won and 144.33 billion won worth of stocks, respectively. Their net selling limited the main index's gains.

In his first major speech since taking the helm of the U.S. central bank, Warsh warned that inflation remains a concern, leaving the door open to further rate hikes this year.

In addition to increased expectations of a U.S. rate hike, investors remained on alert over escalating tensions in the Middle East following renewed U.S. strikes in the Strait of Hormuz.

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