An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap)
An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap)

South Korean stocks pulled off a strong start Friday driven by gains in large-cap shares as investors sought to buy oversold shares.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 26.95 points, or 1.12 percent, to 2,425.89 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, three US major stock indices closed in negative territory on the first trading day of 2025.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.36 percent, and the Nasdaq composite lost 0.16 percent, while the S&P 500 fell 0.22 percent.

In Seoul, market heavyweights led the upbeat start.

Top-cap Samsung Electronics climbed 0.19 percent, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix rose 1.93 percent.

Top carmaker Hyundai Motor advanced 0.71 percent, and leading batter manufacturer LG Energy Solution jumped 2.75 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,467.85 won against the greenback at 9:15 a.m., down 1.25 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)