South Korean stocks traded sharply higher late Friday morning, with most market heavyweights remaining in positive terrain on overnight gains on Wall Street, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 23.48 points, or 1.23 percent, to 1,928.13 as of 11:20 a.m.

Tech and auto shares led the overall market advance.

Top market cap Samsung Electronics climbed 0.3 percent after its estimated fourth-quarter operating income beat market expectations at 5.2 trillion won (US$4.73 billion).

Chipmaker SK hynix jumped 1.3 percent, and top automaker Hyundai Motor advanced 2.25 percent.

Top steelmaker POSCO also added 1.4 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,093.20 against the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m., up 3.7 won from Thursday's close.

U.S stocks soared Thursday as a tumble in oil prices took a breather and market expectations ran high over additional monetary stimulus in Europe. (Yonhap)