Seoul stocks opened a tad higher Friday despite overnight falls on Wall Street and fresh US job data.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index traded up 0.72 points, or 0.03 percent, to 2,265.37 points in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Major indices on Wall Street fell over 1 percent overnight amid concerns that the country's strong labor market data released Thursday could push the Federal Reserve to continue to raise interest rates.
The S&P 500 dropped 1.16 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.02 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.47 percent.
In Seoul, most large-cap shares were trading mixed.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics advanced 0.52 percent, despite its fourth-quarter earning guidance falling short of market expectations.
Early in the day, the county's largest chipmaker announced its fourth quarter operating profit guidance of 4.3 trillion won ($3.38 billion), down 69 percent on-year, marking the lowest figure since 2014.
No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix advanced 1.6 percent, while battery maker LG Energy Solution dipped 1.27 percent and top auto maker Hyundai Motor fell 0.31 percent.
The local currency was trading hands at 1,271.7 won against the greenback, down 2.3 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)
