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

Seoul shares opened higher Wednesday, tracking gains on Wall Street, helped by gains in tech and auto stocks.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 16.84 points, or 0.64 percent, to 2,632.65 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.01 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite climbed 0.46 percent.

In Seoul, tech and auto stocks led gains.

Market behemoth Samsung Electronics rose 1.17 percent, and chip giant SK hynix jumped 2.4 percent.

Top carmaker Hyundai Motor advanced 2.05 percent, its smaller affiliate Kia gained 1.59 percent, and leading auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis was up 0.89 percent.

Among decliners, leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries fell 0.52 percent, and shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean declined 0.58 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,464.75 won against the greenback at 9:15 a.m., up 4.45 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)