Korean shares started higher Thursday taking a cue from overnight gains in Wall Street.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 2.17 points, or 0.11 percent, to 2,017.63 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Fueled by positive earnings reports, the Dow Jones industrial average hit a record high on Wednesday.

Most large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics rising 0.13 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor rose 0.39 percent, and top steelmaker POSCO also gained 0.23 percent.

Naver, the operator of the country's top internet portal, advanced 0.72 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,142.00 won against the U.S. dollar, down 1.0 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)