Seoul shares closed higher Thursday for a third straight session, lifted by expectations of a U.S. interest rate cut. 

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 26-point-04 points, or zero-point-66 percent, to close at three-thousand-986-point-91.

Turnover was moderate at 251-point-six million shares worth 12-point-85 trillion won, or eight-point-77 billion U.S. dollars. Advancers outnumbered decliners 482 to 389.

The main bourse opened sharply higher, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, where U.S. stocks extended their winning streak to a fourth day.

In Seoul, shares later pared gains after the Bank of Korea froze its interest rate at two-point-five percent and raised its 2025 economic growth forecast to one percent.

Large‑cap stocks were mixed.

Samsung Electronics rose zero-point-68 percent, while SK hynix surged three-point-82 percent on eased artificial intelligence concerns.

Naver plunged four-point-55 percent after Dunamu, operator of the Upbit cryptocurrency exchange, reported a significant data breach. Naver had announced its acquisition of Dunamu the previous day.

Samsung Biologics and KB Financial Group slipped zero-point-three and zero-point-eight percent, respectively.

The tech-heavy KOSDAQ rose two-point-74 points, or zero-point-31 percent, to close at 880-point-06.

The South Korean won strengthened against the U.S. dollar by zero-point-seven won, trading at one-thousand-464-point-nine won as of 3:30 p.m.