Seoul shares opened higher Tuesday, bucking overnight losses on Wall Street, with investors remaining concerned about higher interest rates and a slowdown in the global economy.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 6.04 points, or 0.25 percent, to 2,407.96 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2 percent to 31,438.26 points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 0.7 percent to 11,524.55 points.
Auto, airline and refiner stocks were lead gainers.
Top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. jumped 2.7 percent, its affiliate Kia Corp. climbed 1.9 percent, No. 1 flag carrier Korean Air Lines Co. gained 0.2 percent, and its budget carrier Jin Air Co. was up 1 percent.
Leading refiner SK Innovation Co. jumped 2 percent and S-Oil Corp. also climbed 2.9 percent on higher cracking margins.
Technology stocks were mixed, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. rising 0.9 percent but No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. falling 0.7 percent.
Among decliners, state-run utility Korea Electric Power Corp. fell 3.3 percent and leading cosmetics firm Amorepacific Corp. shed 1.1 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,284.95 won against the US dollar, up 1.55 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)
