Seoul shares advanced by more than 1 percent Wednesday as investors scooped up tech stocks following a rally on Wall Street. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 33.41 points, or 1.21 percent, to close at 2,797.33.

The closing index marks the highest since Jan. 21, 2022, when the comparable reading was 2,834.29.

Trade volume was heavy at 635.72 million shares worth 13.86 trillion won ($10.03 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 536 to 341.

Institutions and foreigners bought a combined 820 billion won worth of stocks, exceeding individuals' stock selling valued at 748 billion won.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2 percent to 38,834.86, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.03 percent to 17,862.23.

Nvidia surpassed Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc. to become the world's most-valuable publicly traded company for the first time.

In Seoul, tech, auto and battery stocks led gains.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. rose 1.75 percent to 81,200 won, battery maker Samsung SDI Co. jumped 4.7 percent to 392,500 won, leading home appliance maker LG Electronics Inc. soared 6.1 percent to 108,000 won, and top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. gained 1.2 percent to 286,500 won.

Among decliners, national flag carrier Korean Air Co. fell 0.9 percent to 21,550 won, leading cosmetics firm Amorepacific Corp. shed 1.8 percent to 178,400 won, and leading wireless services provider SK Telecom Co. was down 0.6 percent to 51,200 won.

The local currency closed at 1,381.80 won against the US greenback, down 0.7 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)