South Korean stocks opened higher Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street.

The benchmark Kospi added 18.82 points, or 0.76 percent, to 2,499.45 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.06 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite gained 0.03 percent.

In Seoul, major shares started in positive territory.

Chip giant SK hynix rose 1.9 percent, and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution advanced 1.87 percent.

Top carmaker Hyundai climbed 0.23 percent, and steel giant Posco Holdings increased 1.15 percent.

But top-cap Samsung Electronics fell 0.18 percent.

The local currency had been trading at 1,400.5 won against the greenback as of 9:15 a.m., down 3 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)