Seoul stocks open higher on eased omicron woes

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday as investors attempted to buy oversold stocks amid the potential impact of the omicron coronavirus variant. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 28 points, or 0.96 percent, to 2,937.32 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The new variant has not been detected in South Korea, which has been battling a recent surge of coronavirus cases.

Global stock markets rebounded Monday, partly recouping their losses made last Friday amid investor jitters over the omicron variant.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics edged up 2.21 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix added 2.16 percent.

Pharmaceutical giant Samsung Biologics jumped 0.57 percent.

Internet portal operator Naver advanced 0.13 percent, leading carmaker Hyundai Motor went up 0.5 percent, and steelmaker POSCO increased 1.13 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,188.60 won against the US dollar, up 4.4 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)