Korean shares rise on bets for US

South Korean shares rose on Tuesday from the previous session's fall amid bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve will continue monetary stimulus. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 3. 46 points, or 0.17 percent, to close at 2,016.61. Trading volume stood at 487.51 million shares worth 3.73 trillion won (3.43 billion U.S. dollars). U.S. Fed Vice Chairman Janet Yellen said overnight the U.S. central bank should sustain its bond-buying program worth 85 billion dollars a month, easing concerns over the earlier-than- expected end of the quantitative easing. Tech shares gained ground. The world's second-largest memory chip maker SK Hynix advanced 3.9 percent on speculation over a hike in prices of mobile DRAM chips. Samsung Electronics, the world's No. 1 computer-chip maker, added 0.7 percent. The KOSPI's gain was limited amid lingering concerns over automatic cuts in the U.S. fiscal spending and tighter rules on the property market in China. The nation's No. 2 automaker Kia Motors fell 1.6 percent after reporting that global car sales declined 14.5 percent in February from a year earlier. Top steelmaker POSCO declined 0.7 percent, and the country's biggest life insurer Samsung Life Insurance slid 1 percent. Foreign investors increased their holdings of stocks by 89.2 billion won, maintaining the buying streak for three straight sessions. Institutional and retail investors sold stocks worth 75. 3 billion won and 3.7 billion won each. The local currency finished at 1,087.0 won against the greenback, up 6.2 won from Monday's close. Bond prices ended mixed. The yield on the liquid three-year treasury notes closed steady at 2.63 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds lost 0.01 percentage point to 2.73 percent.