South Korean stocks closed higher on Friday, driven by US President Trump's call for interest rate cuts, which lifted risk-taking sentiment among investors.

"With oil prices going down, I'll demand that interest rates drop immediately, and likewise they should be dropping all over the world," Trump told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the day before.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, was up by 21.31 points, or 0.9%, to close at 2,536.8. The Kosdaq increased by 4.73 points, or 0.7%, to end at 728.74.

In corporate news, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KRX:009540) secured a contract to build 12 ultra-large container ships from a Europe-based shipping company.

The contract is valued at 3.716 trillion won.

Shares of HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering rose more than 1% at market close on Friday.

In other news, Samsung E&A (KRX:028050) posted fourth-quarter 2024 net income attributable to shareholders of 115.9 billion won, down 0.1% from 116.1 billion won a year earlier.

The company's sales fell 8.8% year over year to 2.578 trillion won from 2.827 trillion won.

Shares of Samsung E&A rose over 2% at market close.