Seoul shares open higher on Wall Street gains

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 10.75 points, or 0.56 percent to 1,913.98 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Blue chips pushed up shares, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics rising 0.23 percent and No. 4 lender Shinhan Financial climbing more than 2 percent.

U.S. markets eked out gains on Wednesday, buttressed by some positive corporate earnings and initial public offerings.

The local currency was trading at 1,128.50 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 0.1 won from Wednesday's close.

(Yonhap News)