South Korean stocks opened higher on Thursday, following an overnight Wall Street rally fueled by growing anticipation of an economic recovery, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved up 3.52 points, or 0.18 percent, to 1,939.10 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Shares gathered ground across the board, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics adding 0.2 percent and top chipmaker SK hynix rising 2.33 percent. No. 2 carmaker Kia Motors advanced 1.15 percent.

U.S. stocks ended higher on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve is anticipated to maintain stimulus measures, with the Dow Jones industrial average adding 0.88 percent and the NASDAQ composite index rising 1.83 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,129.65 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 6.05 won from Wednesday's close. (Yonhap News)