Seoul shares ended higher for a third consecutive day Friday as investors cheered an earnings surprise from Samsung Electronics Co. amid hopes for softening U.S. jobs data due this week. The Korean won rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 37.29 points, or 1.32 percent, to 2,862.23. It marked the highest closing price since Jan. 18, 2022, when it finished at 2,902.79.Trade volume was moderate at 372.36 million shares worth 12.9 trillion won (US$9.3 billion), with decliners outpacing gainers 461 to 397.Institutions and foreigners bought a combined 2.56 trillion won worth of stocks, offsetting individuals' stock selling valued at 2.5 trillion won.The U.S. jobs report for June due Friday (U.S. time) is forecast to show a slight slowdown or stability, raising hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates within this year.Samsung Electronics, the top cap here, also lent support to the overall market advance, as the world's largest memory chipm aker expects a 15-fold increase in its second-quarter operating income, aided by the artificial intelligence boom and a recovery in chip prices.Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 3 percent to an over 2-year high of 87,100 won, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix climbed 2.6 percent to 236,000 won, top automaker Hyundai Motor gained 1.3 percent to 281,000 won, and Hanwha Corp., the holding company of chemicals-to-aerospace conglomerate Hanwha Group, jumped 4.3 percent to 29,050 won.Among decliners, leading battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. fell 0.4 percent to 357,500 won, leading refiner SK Innovation Co. declined 1.8 percent to 112,500 won, and refiner S-Oil Corp. shed 1 percent to 67,400 won.The local currency was trading at 1,380.3 won against the greenback as of 3:30 p.m., down 0.1 won from the previous session's close.Since Monday, South Korea's foreign exchange market for won-U.S. dollar transactions has been operating until 2 a.m. as part of the government's efforts to enhance investors' conven ience and improve market access.Source: Yonhap News Agency