[THE INVESTOR] South Korean shares opened higher on Oct. 20, on Wall Street gains bolstered with a rise in oil prices.

The benchmark KOSPI rose 6.41 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,047.35 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 40.68 points, or 0.2 percent, to 18,202.62, led by the upswing of energy-related shares.



On the Seoul bourse, top cap Samsung Electronics was up 0.86 percent after a 2.27 percent gain a day earlier.

The state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. climbed 0.38 percent, while leading automaker Hyundai Motor lost 0.38 percent. LG Chem and Hyudai Heavy Industries advanced 2.86 percent and 1.34 percent, respectively.

The local currency was trading at 1,119.95 won against the US greenback, up 3.25 won from the previous session’s close.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)