[DigitalToday reporter Oh Sang-yeop] South Korea's benchmark KOSPI rose on Sept. 23 on strength in semiconductor heavyweights such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, but foreigners turned net sellers during the session, limiting the upside.

The KOSPI closed up 63.01 points, or 0.90 percent, at 7,080.92 from the previous session.

The index opened at 7,153.99, up 136.08 points from the previous close, and rose above 7,150 early on. It later pared gains and fell as low as 7,014.98 during the session, but held the 7,000 level and recouped some of the losses.

In the main board market, institutions were net buyers of 318.8 billion won. Retail investors and foreigners were net sellers of 1.44 trillion won and 510.6 billion won, respectively.

Among top market-cap stocks, semiconductor shares extended gains. Samsung Electronics ended up 3.25 percent at 285,500 won and SK Hynix rose 1.20 percent to 1,862,000 won.

SK Square gained 5.03 percent, Samsung Electro-Mechanics rose 1.41 percent and LG Energy Solution added 0.29 percent.

Hyundai Motor fell 1.94 percent, Samsung Biologics dropped 1.80 percent and KB Financial Group lost 1.42 percent. Samsung C&T ended flat.

The KOSDAQ also rose. It gained 10.10 points, or 1.21 percent, to 844.48.

In the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won was quoted at 1,359.00 per dollar, down 3.50 won, or 0.26 percent, from the previous session.

The KOSPI rose more than 1 percent early on, supported by overnight gains in U.S. semiconductor shares and expectations of rising demand for server DRAM. Buying in semiconductor shares led by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix lifted the index.

But cautious sentiment ahead of the Chuseok holiday and profit-taking combined as foreigners turned net sellers, preventing the index from holding its early gains. After the KOSPI rose above 7,170 intraday the previous day and then pared gains to 7,017.91, it again failed to settle above 7,100 on the day.

Han Ji-young (한지영), an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said the market's upside could be limited as it faces profit-taking pressure linked to cautious sentiment ahead of the holiday. She added that the index could slip below 7,000 amid a supply-and-demand battle ahead of the holiday, but it would be better to maintain exposure to shareholder-return sectors such as the AI infrastructure value chain and banks and insurers.