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

South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday, bucking an overnight decline on Wall Street, as foreign investors went bargain hunting for a second consecutive session.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 9.9 points, or 0.31 percent, to 3,182.25 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, Wall Street's three major indexes lost ground, led by losses in big tech companies, including artificial intelligence chip maker Nvidia.

Investors are paying attention to the US federal appeals court's upcoming ruling over President Trump's sweeping tariffs and the August employment data set to be released Friday (US time).

In Seoul, tech, defense and battery makers led the gains.

Top-cap Samsung Electronics added 0.43 percent and rival SK hynix inched up 0.1 percent.

Major battery maker LG Energy Solution moved up 0.57 percent, and defense giant Hanwha Aerospace advanced 1.61 percent.

The local currency had been quoted at 1,395.3 won against the greenback as of 9:15 a.m., down 4.3 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)