Seoul shares open higher on Wall Street gains

South Korean stocks got off to a strong start Friday, tracking an overnight rally on Wall Street fueled by upbeat earnings from major technology companies.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 16.43 points, or 0.62 percent, to trade at 2,683.92 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Estimate-topping results by Apple Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. sent their stocks higher, helping the key US indexes erase recent losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.85 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq soared 3.06 percent. The S&P 500 rose 2.47 percent.

Top-listed firms on the Seoul bourse gathered ground, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics advancing 2 percent and top battery maker LG Energy Solution gaining nearly 1 percent. Chip giant SK hynix also rose 1.8 percent.

Leading automaker Hyundai Motor lost 1.3 percent, with its affiliate Kia dropping 0.3 percent. Big financial companies were also bearish, with KB Financial falling more than 1 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,269.90 won against the US dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 2.6 won from Thursday's close. (Yonhap)