South Korean stocks opened higher on Friday, fueled by firm gains in technology shares, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed 7.39 points, or 0.37 percent, to 2000.07 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Big-cap tech firms drove up shares, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics rising 0.51 percent and SK hynix gaining 1.08 percent.

Samsung Electronics, the world's largest technology company by revenue, estimated Friday it posted a record operating profit of 8.1 trillion won (US$7.3 billion) in the third quarter of the year.

The local currency was trading at 1,110.90 won to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 2.90 won from Thursday's close. (Yonhap News)