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

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday, tracking overnight gains from Wall Street, as investors remained buoyed by the Federal Reserve's possible rate cuts next year.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 20.26 points, or 0.8 percent, to 2,564.44 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.43 percent higher, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.19 percent.

In Seoul, leading tech giant Samsung Electronics rose 0.96 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix gained 1.32 percent.

Top battery maker LG Energy Solution rose 1.3 percent, and Samsung SDI added 2.79 percent.

Top carmaker Hyundai Motor increased 1.84 percent, and its sister Kia moved up 1.83 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,294.5 won against the U.S. dollar, up 0.9 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)