South Korean stocks rebounded on Thursday as upbeat economic reports from the United States and China encouraged investors to bet on riskier assets, analysts said.

The local currency gained ground against the greenback.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 0.36 percent, or 7.26 points, to 2015.59, coming back from a 3 point fall in the previous session. Trading volume was thin at 225 million shares worth 3.57 trillion won ($3.49 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 457 to 337.

“In the early morning, the good news from the U.S. pushed the index up and the better-than-expected Chinese data gave another boost,” said Lim Dong-rak, a market analyst from Hanyang Securities.

In the Federal Reserve minutes released the same day, the U.S. central bank indicated it would continue its stimulus and has no plans to raise interest rates in the near future.

China’s manufacturing figures improved and beat market forecasts, boosting investor confidence here. (Yonhap)