South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, a day after the presidential election.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 40.94 points, or 1.52 percent, to 2,739.91 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.51 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.81 percent.
Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the liberal Democratic Party, won the election, defeating Kim Moon-soo of the conservative People Power Party. The vote followed the ousting of former President Yoon Suk Yeol after martial law was imposed in December.
Lee began his five-year term earlier in the day following the National Election Commission's approval of his victory in a plenary session.
In Seoul, most large-cap stocks advanced.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.26 percent, and chip giant SK hynix soared 5.78 percent.
Top automaker Hyundai Motor climbed 0.49 percent, and its sister affiliate Kia jumped 1.24 percent.
Leading steelmaker POSCO Holdings rose 1.23 percent and Korea Aerospace Industries, the country's sole aircraft manufacturer, jumped 5.97 percent.
Among decliners, POSCO's smaller rival Hyundai Steel fell 0.73 percent and leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries shed 3.86 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,376.55 won against the greenback at 9:15 a.m., down 3.45 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)
