South Korean stocks edged up Monday as shipbuilders and Kia Motors stole a limelight.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 0.36 point, or 0.02 percent, to 1,598.29. Volume was thin at 248.8 million shares worth 3.91 trillion won ($3.89 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 451 to 337.
"The Seoul bourse traded in a narrow range with losses by market leader Samsung Electronics weighing on the market," Lee Sun-yup, an analyst at Goodmorning Shinhan Securities, was quoted as saying.
"Investors will likely take a breather this week, awaiting a set of main economic data in the United States and Korea," Lee said, adding that the selling spree by foreign investors may wrap up only after worries over a global credit crunch were dispelled.
Shipbuilders gained ground with industry leader Hyundai Heavy Industries rising 1.22 percent to 332,500 won. Kia Motors, the country's second-largest carmaker, jumped 7.26 percent to 12,550 won on a bright outlook for future earnings.
Tech bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 2.78 percent to 560,000 won after a foreign brokerage lowered its target price for the world's largest computer memory-chip maker. Chip giant Hynix Semiconductor declined 1.5 percent to 23,000 won and flat-panel giant LG Display lost 2.74 percent to 30,150 won.
Financial shares also traded weaker. Top lender Kookmin Bank shed 0.7 percent to 57,000 won and Shinhan Financial Group, the country's No. 2 financial services firm, fell 0.85 percent to 46,600 won.
On Friday, Wall Street ended higher on stronger-than-expected data on factory orders. The Dow Jones industrial average inched up 0.19 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index jumped 1.33 percent. Prices of U.S. oil futures fell $2.23 to $123.26 per barrel.
The tech-savvy Kosdaq market also rose 0.15 percent to close at 544.05.
The Korean currency closed at 1,006 won against the dollar, up 3.2 won from Friday's close, after the central bank said the country's current account swung to the black in June for the first time in seven months on robust exports.