South Korean shares rose on Tuesday as foreign investors bought most shares in a year amid expectations that the economy will recover modestly.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 19. 39 points, or 0.98 percent, to close at 1,994.06. Trading volume stood at 259.21 million shares worth 5.27 trillion won (4.87 billion U.S. dollars).

Foreigners bought a net 813.2 billion won worth of local stocks, the largest one-day purchase since Sept. 15 last year when they bought domestic stocks worth 1.28 trillion won.

Foreigners kept their buying spree for 13 straight sessions on spots, while purchasing contracts for the KOSPI200 index futures worth nearly 3 trillion won.

Hopes for the South Korea's economic recovery were boosted following the better-than-expected trade data in China.

China's trade surplus reached 28.52 billion dollars in August, beating analysts' forecast of around 20 billion dollars. The figure was the highest since January this year. Exports of the world's No. 2 economy jumped 7.2 percent last month, boosting hopes that the economy, South Korea's No.1 trading partner, is on the recovery track.

Foreign buying was centered on manufacturers. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 1.7 percent, and the world's largest shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries advanced 2.7 percent. The nation's biggest steelmaker POSCO climbed 2 percent, and top automaker Hyundai Motor added 0.8 percent.

The South Korean currency finished at 1,084.1 won against the greenback, up 2.7 won from Monday's close.

Bond prices ended lower. The yield on the liquid three-year treasury notes added 0.02 percentage point to 2.97 percent, and the return on the benchmark 10-year government bonds rose 0.03 percentage point to 3.62 percent. Endi