South Korean stocks opened sharply higher Tuesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street amid hopes for a de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 29.4 points, or 1 percent, to 2,976.06 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Overnight, major US indexes gained ground on hopes Israel and Iran will not go into a full-scale war on news Tehran wants to resume talks over its nuclear program, as well as a strong performance of tech shares supported by the planned discussions on artificial intelligence at the ongoing Group of Seven summit in Canada.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.75 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite increased 1.52 percent, while the S&P 500 gained 0.94 percent.
In Seoul, tech behemoth Samsung Electronics jumped 2.8 percent, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix advanced 2.62 percent.
Top automaker Hyundai Motor rose 0.74 percent, and its sister Kia climbed 1.54 percent.
Major shipbuilders kicked off strong, with Hanwha Ocean soaring 9.14 percent, while HD Korea Shipbuilding climbed 2.31 percent and HD Hyundai Heavy added 0.89 percent.
Nuclear power plant manufacturer Doosan Enerbility surged 2.85 percent, and leading internet portal operator Naver went up 1.19 percent.
Defense giant Hanwha Aerospace opened 1.55 percent lower, while South Korea's biggest shipper HMM dipped 4.12 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,360.9 won against the greenback at 9:15 a.m., up 2.9 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)
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