SEOUl: South Korean stocks surged more than 2 percent Monday as investors eagerly purchased shares of Samsung Electronics, following the chip giant's announcement of a significant share buyback plan. The Korean won also strengthened against the U.S. dollar. According to Yonhap News Agency, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) increased by 52.21 points, or 2.16 percent, closing at 2,469.07. This marked the largest daily gain since September 26, when the KOSPI saw a 2.9 percent increase. The day's trade volume was moderate, with 431.2 million shares traded, valued at 10.4 trillion won (approximately US$7.5 billion). Gainers significantly outnumbered losers, with 614 stocks rising compared to 282 that fell. Investor activity showed that institutions and individuals purchased a net 3 billion won and 5.5 billion won, respectively, while foreign investors sold off a net 72.8 billion won. Samsung Electronics, the top-cap company, saw a notable rise of 5.98 percent to 56,700 won after announcing a 10 trillion won share buyback plan to enhance its value. This comes after a period of heavy losses due to lower-than-expected earnings and increasing uncertainties, with shares hitting a low of 49,900 won last Thursday, the lowest since June 2020. Other major companies also experienced gains, with top carmaker Hyundai Motor climbing 5.34 percent to 217,000 won and its sister company Kia rising 5.57 percent to 96,700 won. Energy shares were strong as well, with SK Innovation, the leading refinery, increasing 6.04 percent to 101,900 won, and the state-run Korea Gas Corp. climbing 4.08 percent to 42,100 won. On the insurance front, Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance saw a significant surge of 10.48 percent to 369,000 won, while food and beverage giant Nongshim rose 3.99 percent to 339,000 won. Conversely, chipmaker SK hynix experienced a decline of 3.65 percent to 171,700 won amid news that Nvidia's new artificial intelligence chip might face delays due to overheating issues, which is significant for SK hynix as it is the primary supplier of high bandwidth memory chips to Nvidia. The local currency was trading at 1,395.2 won against the U.S. dollar by 3:30 p.m., an increase of 3.6 won from the previous session. In the bond market, prices rose, resulting in lower yields. The yield on three-year Treasurys fell 2.6 basis points to 2.915 percent, while the yield on five-year government bonds decreased by 2.4 basis points to 2.967 percent.