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

South Korean stocks started sharply higher Tuesday following overnight Wall Street gains driven by hopes for diplomatic talks aimed at ending the US-Iran war, which led to a drop in oil prices amid a scandal swirling around Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 275.50 points, or 5.49 percent, to 5,294.35 as of 9:15 a.m.

With the sharp rise, the Korea Exchange activated a buy-side sidecar for the main bourse at 9:06 a.m., suspending program trading for KOSPI-listed shares for five minutes.

US stocks finished higher on eased uncertainty in the Middle East as US President Donald Trump told reporters that he is not prepared to resume the bombardment. A drop in oil prices also calmed inflation fears.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.15 percent, and the S&P 500 gained 2.35 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.74 percent, while Nvidia tumbled 4.2 percent.

The PHLX semiconductor index jumped 6.85 percent.

In Seoul, major shares gained ground across the board.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics jumped 5.85 percent, and chipmaker SK hynix soared 8.63 percent.

Top carmaker Hyundai Motor climbed 4.42 percent, and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution increased 3.14 percent.

Defense giant Hanwha Aerospace went up 4.85 percent, and major banking group KB Financial Group increased 4.31 percent.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,345.85 won against the US dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 1.55 won from the previous trading session's close. (Yonhap)