South Korean stocks jumped 1.6 percent Tuesday as investors hunted for bargains after the previous day's steep fall, picking up auto, steel and other large-cap shares. The local currency rose slightly against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 31.96 points to 2,023.93. This followed a 1.82 percent plunge on Monday. Trade volume was moderate at 560.61 million shares worth 4.8 trillion won ($4.1 billion), with gainers outpacing decliners 528 to 286.

"Investors seemed to rush for shares that dropped sharply in the previous day. The upswing was mostly driven by gains in large caps," said Kim Hyung-ryul, an analyst from Kyobo Securities Co.

Foreign investors and institutions bought more shares than they sold. Their net purchase came to around 110 billion won and 50 billion won, respectively.

Most large caps ended higher, recouping part of the losses that they suffered the day before. Auto and steel issues led the gain.

No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor jumped 3.73 percent to 153,000 won and second-ranked Kia Motors advanced 6.29 percent to 55,800 won.

Steel and cosmetics companies also ended sharply high.

Steelmaking giant POSCO spiked 3.85 percent to 175,500 won and No. 1 cosmetics maker AmorePacific rose 3.72 percent to 418,500 won.

Tech issues ended mixed. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics gained 2.88 percent to close at 1,321,000 won. Panel maker LG Display, however, closed down 1.38 percent to 25,050 won and chipmaker SK hynix fell 0.79 percent to 31,350 won.

The local currency ended at 1,158 won against the greenback, up 0.1 won from Monday's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year Treasurys fell 1.3 basis points to 1.772 percent and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds added 2.3 basis points to 1.986 percent. (Yonhap)