South Korean shares opened higher Friday, taking a cue from an overnight rally on Wall Street over strong signals of economic rebound.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 7.79 point, or 0.24 percent, to 3,202.12 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the S&P 500 gained 1.11 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.9 percent, both reaching all-time highs, as steep improvement in US jobs and sales data raised hopes of global economic rebound.

In Seoul, market kingpin Samsung Electronics added 0.24 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix moved up 0.73 percent.

Internet portal giant Naver edged up 0.26 percent, but its rival Kakao lost 2.9 percent. Leading carmaker Hyundai Motor rose 1.08 percent.

Leading chemical maker LG Chem climbed 1.91 percent, and top pharmaceutical firm Samsung Biologics fell 0.62 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,117.9 won to the US dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 0.2 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)