Seoul shares opened higher Friday as Samsung Electronics soared after it announced a cut in its chip production in the face of a slump in its earnings.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 18.79 points, or 0.76 percent, to 2,478.2 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, US stocks ended higher as investors remained cautious ahead of job data set to be released Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.18 percent, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ advanced 0.76 percent.

In Seoul, chipmakers jumped, led by top market cap Samsung Electronics.

Samsung, the world's largest memory chip maker advanced 2.89 percent, while its rival SK hynix jumped 5.01 percent.

Samsung logged the worst bottom line in more than a decade on a chip downturn. The tech behemoth said it will cut memory chip output to "meaningful levels" in a bid to respond to a sharp fall in chip prices.

In contrast, battery shares lost ground. Major battery maker Samsung SDI inched down 0.13 percent, and chemical firm LG Chem dipped 0.28 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,319.4 won against the greenback as of 9:15 a.m., up 0.3 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)