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 shares opened higher Tuesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) added 5.45 points, or 0.21 percent, to 2,628.74 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, US stocks closed sharply higher ahead of earnings reports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.47 percent to close at 43,065.22, breaching the 43,000 mark for the first time, while the S&P 500 also climbed to a record high of 5,859.85.

In Seoul, large caps traded mixed.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics slipped 0.16 percent, while its chipmaking rival SK hynix rose 1.65 percent.

Top battery maker LG Energy Solution dipped 0.49 percent, but its smaller local rival Samsung SDI advanced 0.14 percent.

Leading automaker Hyundai Motor and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors lost 0.40 percent and 0.50 percent, respectively.

The local currency was trading at 1,358.20 won against the US dollar, down 2.30 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)