South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday as investor sentiment got a boost from overnight gains in U.S. markets, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 11.69 points, or 0.59 percent to 1,997.91 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

STX Pan Ocean, STX Group's troubled shipper, jumped by the daily limit of 15 percent on speculation that the state-run Korea Development Bank would take over the shipper.

But power monopoly Korea Electric Power Corp. declined 4.19 percent as the government halted the operation of two nuclear reactors Tuesday.

U.S. stocks gained ground on Tuesday as central banks in the eurozone and Japan vowed to keep their monetary easing stances. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.69 percent and tech-laden Nasdaq composite index gained 0.86 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,130.95 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 4.05 won from Tuesday's close. (Yonhap News