▲ A dealing room at Hana Bank in Seoul on Feb. 11, 2026 (Yonhap)

(LEAD) stocks-summary

(LEAD) Seoul stocks up for 3rd day on auto, financial gains

(ATTN: ADDS bond yields at bottom)

SEOUL, Feb. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks ended higher Wednesday, rising for the third consecutive session, led by gains in auto and financial shares.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 52.8 points, or 1 percent, to close at 5,354.49. The local currency gained ground against the U.S. dollar.

Trade volume was moderate at 747.2 million shares worth 25.4 trillion won (US$17.5 billion), with winners outnumbering losers 541 to 337.

The KOSPI opened lower after weaker-than-expected U.S. retail sales data raised concerns over an economic slowdown, while comments from some Federal Reserve officials dampened hopes for interest rate cuts.

But it later rebounded on solid buying by foreigners and institutions.

Foreigners and institutions net purchased 847.3 billion won and 689.4 billion won, respectively, offsetting a 1.7 trillion-won sell-off by retail investors.

"Amid the absence of clear catalysts, the KOSPI gained ground thanks to revived momentum for the robotics sector and the strong performance of financial shares stemming from expectations for stock dividends," Lee Jae-won, an analyst at Shinhan Securities, said.

Auto giant Hyundai Motor surged 5.93 percent to 509,000 won, and its sister Kia soared 4.59 percent to 161,800 won, benefiting from investors' expectations for the robotics sector.

LG Electronics also skyrocketed 22.98 percent with positive assessment for the company's potential in robotics.

KB Financial shot up 5.79 percent to 164,500 won, and Shinhan Financial jumped 3.06 percent to 100,900 won. Meritz Financial escalated 7.45 percent to 131,200 won.

Top-cap semiconductor heavyweights were mixed. Samsung Electronics went up 1.21 percent to 167,800 won, while chip giant SK hynix lost 1.83 percent to 860,000 won.

Major biopharmaceutical firm Celltrion rose 5.27 percent to 239,500 won, while defense giant Hanwha Aerospace dipped 1.4 percent to 1.13 million won.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,450.1 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., up 9.1 won from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys dropped 2.4 basis points to 3.2 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds lost 3.2 basis points to 3.462 percent.

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