An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Wednesday. (Yonhap)

South Korean stocks got off to a strong start Wednesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 32.69 points, or 1.38 percent, to trade at 2,403.66 points in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, US stocks rallied on better-than-expected corporate earnings.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 2.43 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite surged 3.11 percent.

In Seoul, most big-cap shares gathered ground, with techs and financials leading the upturn of the index.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.99 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix advanced 2.5 percent.

Major chemical firm LG Chem surged 4.41 percent, and battery giant LG Energy Solution grew 1.31 percent.

KB Financial Group soared 4.32 percent, and Shinhan Financial Group climbed 3.03 percent.

Carmakers also rose. Leading carmaker Hyundai Motor increased 0.80 percent, and its smaller affiliate Kia inched up 0.12 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,305.15 won against the US dollar, up 8.25 won from the previous session's close. (Yohap)