The use of mobile devices for stock transactions has continued to rise sharply as more retail investors use their smartphones and tablet PCs for trading, the bourse operator said Monday.

In terms of daily value, stock trading via mobile gadgets has made up some 9.73 percent of the total transactions on the country’s main bourse so far this year as of June 23, compared with 9.28 percent tallied in 2013, according to the Korea Exchange.

Market watchers said such a rise matches the increase in the number of smartphone users in South Korea.

In contrast, stock transactions via the home trading system accounted for 27.05 percent of the total trading, down 3.57 percentage points from last year, the KRX added.

The comparable figures for 2010, 2011 and 2012 were 42.7 percent, 41.33 percent and 35.83 percent, according to the bourse operator. (Yonhap)