Seoul shares ended higher Thursday tracking Wall Street gains, as institutional investors scooped up large-cap stocks amid concerns over the Federal Reserve's further rate hikes. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 47.58 points, or 1.96 percent, to close at 2,475.48.

Trading volume was moderate at 378.9 million shares worth 8.97 trillion won ($6.98 billion), with gainers outpacing decliners 671 to 213.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1 percent to 34,128.05 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.9 percent to 12,070.59.

Institutions and foreigners bought a combined 912 billion won worth of stocks, offsetting individuals' selling valued at 936 billion won.

Institutional buying helped the main index close in positive territory in today's session, analysts said.

Investors now await US employment data to be released Thursday to take a cue in their future investment directions, following hotter-than-expected inflation data Tuesday.

The US Consumer Price Index data showed prices rose at a higher-than-expected clip of 0.5 percent in January. The Fed said it is not done yet in its monetary tightening to bring down inflation.

In Seoul, most large-cap stocks advanced.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. rose 2.4 percent to 63,700 won, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. climbed 1.3 percent to 92,900 won, top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. jumped 3.8 percent to 179,300 won, and leading refiner SK Innovation Co. gained 3.2 percent to 160,000 won.

Among decliners, leading wireless services provider SK Telecom Co. fell 4.3 percent to 44,600 won, while Hybe Co., the entertainment agency behind supergroup BTS, dropped 3.4 percent to 190,500 won.

The local currency traded at 1,284.8 won against the US dollar, down 2.6 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)