South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday as investors picked up tech blue chips following deep losses in the previous session.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 9.22 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,447.41 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The gain bucked overnight losses on Wall Street amid rising bond yields and ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's remarks on the economy at the Economic Club of Washington.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched down 0.1 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 1 percent.

In Seoul, top-cap tech shares led the upturn of the index after the previous session's sharp decline on concerns over continued monetary tightening by the United States due to a hotter-than-expected jobs report.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.65 percent, and chip giant SK hynix grew 0.56 percent.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution inched up 0.19 percent, and Samsung SDI advanced 0.71 percent. LG Chem also increased 0.61 percent.

Major bio shares gathered ground, with Samsung Biologics climbing 0.99 percent and Celltrion jumping 1.38 percent.

But top automaker Hyundai Motor remained unchanged, and its affiliate Kia lost 0.57 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,257.45 won against the US dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 4.65 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)