South Korean stocks closed 1.79 percent higher Monday as the country continued to see the novel coronavirus outbreak wane. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped 33.76 points to close at 1,922.77. Trading volume was moderate at 725 million shares worth 8 trillion won ($6.5 billion), with gainers far outpacing losers 738 to 126.

The index opened higher and continued to build up gains on hopes that the coronavirus outbreak is peaking. The country reported 10 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, marking the fifth day in a row that the number of new infections stayed at 10 or below

The government earlier announced that an aid package will be increased to 135 trillion won from the previously set 100 trillion won to help key industries disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The local stock market strongly rebounded on hopes for more policy support despite the falling oil prices," said Seo Sang-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities Co. "Also, financial stocks rebounded on the back of better-than-expected earnings reports."

Foreigners and institutions scooped up a net 17.8 billion won and 527.9 billion won, respectively. Meanwhile, individuals offloaded a net 548.9 billion won.

Most large-cap shares closed higher.

Tech shares were bullish, with top market cap Samsung Electronics gaining 1.01 percent to 49,850 won and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix adding 1.47 percent to 82,600 won.

Financial stocks ended strong. Shinhan Financial, a major banking group, shot up 10.5 percent to end at 30,000 won on its first-quarter earnings results, and another leading banking group, Hana Financial, also jumped 16.85 percent to 27,050 won.

eading carmaker Hyundai Motor was up 1.66 percent to 91,600 won, and its sister company Kia Motors added 3.25 percent to 28,600 won.

In contrast, major pharmaceutical firm Samsung BioLogics went down 0.51 percent to 588,000 won.

The local currency closed at 1,226.2 won against the US dollar, up 9.3 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasurys added 0.8 basis point to 1.026 percent, with the return on the benchmark five-year government bond up 1.1 basis points to 1.288 percent. (Yonhap)