South Korea's KOSPI ended higher, supported by a rebound in large-cap semiconductor shares. The KOSDAQ, which had surged a day earlier, edged down as it took a breather.

On June 30, the KOSPI closed up 81.83 points, or 0.97 percent, at 8,476.48. The index opened up 22.05 points, or 0.26 percent, at 8,416.70 and rose to the 8,600 level during the session, but gave back some gains.

In the main bourse, individuals and institutions were net buyers of 835.7 billion won and 2.94 trillion won, respectively. Foreigners were net sellers of 3.8 trillion won.

Among the top market-cap shares, semiconductor stocks rebounded. Samsung Electronics closed up 11,000 won, or 3.41 percent, at 334,000 won. SK Hynix gained 22,000 won, or 0.84 percent, to 2.65 million won.

SK Square rose 3.48 percent and Samsung Electro-Mechanics gained 7.16 percent. LG Energy Solution fell 9.61 percent, Samsung Biologics slid 3.94 percent, Samsung Life dropped 1.84 percent, Samsung C&T fell 0.53 percent and Hyundai Motor slipped 0.40 percent.

The KOSDAQ closed down 4.39 points, or 0.48 percent, at 916.18. After jumping more than 8 percent the previous day to regain the 900 level, it ended the session slightly lower on profit-taking.

At the close, the won-dollar exchange rate stood at 1,548.60 won, up 7.10 won, or 0.46 percent, from the previous session.

Han Ji-young (한지영), a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said, "Considering the continued rise in memory prices due to strong AI demand and the effects of long-term supply contracts, there is still no major abnormal signal in the fundamentals of semiconductor stocks."