South Korea's exports jumped 44.4 per cent from a year earlier in the first 10 days of February, driven by strong demand for semiconductors, data showed on Wednesday.

Outbound shipments reached US$21.39 billion in the Feb. 1-10 period, compared with $14.81 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service, reports Yonhap news agency.

Imports went up 21.1 percent on-year to $20.74 billion during the period, resulting in a trade surplus of $64 million, the data showed.

The daily average volume of exports also advanced 34.8 percent on-year, while the number of working days during the period went up by 0.5 day from a year earlier to 7.5 days.

By item, exports of semiconductors surged 137.6 percent on-year to $6.73 billion amid the global artificial intelligence (AI) boom.

Chip exports accounted for 31.5 percent of the country's total exports over the cited period, up 12.3 percentage points from the same period last year.

Exports of petroleum products jumped 40.1 percent to $1.52 billion.

But automobile exports went down 2.6 percent on-year to $1.35 billion, while shipments of vessels dipped 29 percent to $663 million.

By destination, exports to China, South Korea's top trading partner, soared 54.1 percent on-year to $4.55 billion.

Shipments to the United States jumped 38.5 percent to $3.6 billion despite the tariff scheme by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, the data showed.

In January, exports expanded 33.9 percent from a year earlier to $65.85 billion on strong demand for semiconductors.

Meanwhile, South Korean stocks traded higher late on Wednesday morning, led by gains in auto and bio shares amid institutional buying.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had added 42.82 points, or 0.81 percent, to 5,344.51 as of 11:20 a.m.

The index opened lower after weaker-than-expected U.S. retail sales data raised concerns over an economic slowdown, while comments from some Federal Reserve officials dampened hopes for interest rate cuts.