Seoul Shares Close Higher Amid Oil Price Fall

Seoul stocks advanced Wednesday as investors snapped up shipbuilders and shipping companies amid falling oil prices.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 23.42 points, or 1.34 percent, to 1,774.13. Volume was moderate at 336 million shares worth 4.24 trillion won ($4.13 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 510 to 294.

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, the world's second-largest shipyard, gained 4.62 percent to 41,900 won.

Shipping industry leader Hanjin Shipping added 2.03 percent to 42,800 won and its smaller rival STX Pan Ocean jumped 10.89 percent to 2,240 won. Korean Air, the country's No. 1 flag carrier, advanced 3.29 percent to 53,300 won.

Tech giant Samsung Electronics rose 2.33 percent to 704,000 won while chip giant Hynix Semiconductor fell 1.56 percent to 28,450 won.

U.S. stocks closed lower Tuesday as downbeat economic data offset a better-than-expected earnings report by Goldman Sachs Group. The Dow Jones industrial average shed 0.89 percent and the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index dropped 0.69 percent.

The tech-savvy Kosdaq market rose 2.42 points, or 0.40 percent, to 614.83, buoyed by large-cap Internet shares.

Meanwhile, the Korean won closed at 1,029.10 won against the dollar, down 5.90 won from Tuesday's close, as offshore investors snapped up the greenback.