Seoul shares ended higher Friday on institutional buying after the Federal Reserve's first rate cut in more than four years lifted investor sentiment. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 0.49 percent, or 12.57 points, to close at 2,593.37. The main index rose 0.7 percent this week.

Trading volume was moderate at 477.43 million shares worth 13.78 trillion won ($10.4 billion), with gainers exceeding decliners 562 to 319.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.3 percent to 42,025.19 points, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.5 percent to 18,013.98.

On Wednesday (US time), the Fed kicked off its monetary-easing cycle by cutting its overnight lending rate by half a percentage point to a range of 4.75 percent to 5 percent.

The US central bank also pledged further rate cuts.

"Tech shares, such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, (which plunged in a session earlier), rebounded on bargain hunting amid eased concerns over an economic recession (in the US) and an increased appetite for risky assets," said Lee Jae-won, an analyst at Shinhan Securities Co.

Institutions bought a net 273 billion won worth of stocks, offsetting foreigners and individuals' stock selling valued at 278 billion won.

In Seoul, large-cap stocks were mixed.

No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. rose 2.8 percent to 157,100 won, home appliance maker LG Electronics Inc. climbed 0.6 percent to 110,100 won, top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. advanced 1.8 percent to 250,500 won, and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. gained 0.5 percent to 393,500 won.

On Thursday, Morgan Stanley downgraded SK hynix to underweight from overweight, citing its fading pricing power. SK hynix plunged more than 6 percent on the report. Samsung Electronics Co. also ended down 2 percent.

Among decliners, market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 0.2 percent to 63,000 won; the country's sole aircraft manufacturer, Korea Aerospace Industries Co., shed 1.9 percent to 52,600 won; and leading cosmetics firm Amorepacific Corp. was down 2.1 percent to 137,700 won.

The local currency traded at 1,329.10 won against the dollar at 3:30 p.m., down 0.1 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)