South Korean shares opened higher Tuesday, taking a cue from stellar US tech gains on Wall Street.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 29.24 points, or 1.37 percent, to 2,155.97 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The increase was largely attributed to the gains on Wall Street, led by tech giants Apple and Microsoft.

The tech-laden Nasdaq gained 110.35 points, or 1.11 percent, to close at a fresh record high of 10,056.47 Monday (US time).

Apple CEO Tim Cook announced at a developer conference that the company would build its own chips for Mac. After the announcement, Apple shares soared 2.6 percent to a record high $358.87. Microsoft shares also jumped over 2 percent.

In Seoul, most large caps traded higher.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics gained 0.77 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix rose 1.06 percent.

Top pharmaceutical firm Samsung BioLogics advanced 2.02 percent, with leading chemical maker LG Chem adding 2.17 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,206.90 won against the US dollar, up 8.9 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)