South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday on big-cap bargain hunting following the previous day's tumble and speculations that Europe will agree on a new debt plan to preserve the currency union, analysts said.

The KOSPI moved up 0.82 percent, or 14.63 points, to 1,797.76 in the first 15 minutes of trading.


Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.42 percent, with top automaker Hyundai Motor also gaining 0.21 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,176.25 won to the greenback as of 9:15 a.m., up 5.75 won from Monday's close.

(Yonhap News)