South Korean stocks opened higher Friday following an overnight Wall Street rally fueled by heightening anticipations of economic recovery, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 4.34 points, or 0.22 percent to 2,006.47 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Shares gained ground across the board, with No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor rising 2.12 percent and top chipmaker SK hynix adding

0.52 percent. Leading builder Hyundai Engineering & Construction increased 1.25 percent.

U.S. stocks ended higher Thursday on the country's improved jobs data, with the Dow Jones industrial average rising 0.58 percent and the NASDAQ composite index adding 0.43 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,107.05 won against the U.S.

dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 1.95 won from Thursday's close. (Yonhap News)