South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday following Wall Street's overnight rise.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 13.51 points, or 0.66 percent, to 2,045.86 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The advance was apparently helped by gains in the New York stock exchange. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 107.59 points, or 0.58 percent, to 18,502.99, led by the banking sector being boosted by expectations that the Fed's interest-rate hikes will increase their lending margins. 

On the Seoul bourse, large caps started mixed.

Market behemoth Samsung Electronics lost 0.06 percent, while global chipmaker SK hynix gained 1.24 percent. The state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. added 0.52 percent.

Leading automaker Hyundai Motor also rose 0.75 percent.

The South Korean won was trading at 1,117.75 won against the US greenback, up 7.25 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)