Seoul shares opened higher Wednesday as investors scooped up tech stocks following a surge in US chipmakers.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 28.31 points, or 1.02 percent, to 2,792.23 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2 percent to 38,834.86, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.03 percent to 17,862.23.

Nvidia Corp. surpassed Microsoft Corp. to become the world's most-valuable company for the first time.

In Seoul, tech and auto stocks led gains.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. rose 1.6 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. climbed 1.3 percent, top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. gained 1.4 percent, and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. was up 1.2 percent.

Among decliners, national flag carrier Korean Air Co. fell 0.9 percent, leading shipping firm HMM declined 0.3 percent, and the state-run Korea Gas Corp. shed 2.9 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,380.25 won against the US dollar, up 0.85 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)