SEOUL, Aug. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks ended sharply higher for the third straight session Wednesday as investors scooped up major chipmakers. The Korean won gained against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 233.51 points, or 3.68 percent, to close at 6,579.04, following 0.65 percent and 0.73 percent gains in the previous two sessions.

After opening 1.47 percent higher, the KOSPI further added gains as foreigners and institutions scooped up major chip heavyweights.

At 11:57 a.m., the bourse operator activated a buy-side sidecar. Program trading for the KOSPI-listed shares was suspended for five minutes.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.34 percent, while the S&P 500 declined 0.32 percent to 7,728.2. The Nasdaq composite shed 0.60 percent.`

In Seoul, large-cap stocks finished higher.

Semiconductor heavyweight Samsung Electronics shot up 6.68 percent to 255,000 won per share and its rival SK hynix gained 5.54 percent to 1.5 million won.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,415.7 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., up 0.3 won from the close of stock trading the day before.

khj@yna.co.kr

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