South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday on advances in tech and bio shares despite overnight falls on Wall Street.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) inched up 3.57 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,842.58 points in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 1.86 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite declined 1.55 percent amid growing concerns about the omicron coronavirus variant and accelerating inflation in the world's largest economy.

In Seoul, market bellwether Samsung Electronics added 0.56 percent to 71,700 won, while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix lost 1.32 percent to 112,500 won.

Pharmaceutical giant Samsung Biologics increased 2.7 percent to 384,000 won; Hyundai Motor, the country's largest carmaker, advanced 0.77 percent to 197,000 won; and electric car battery maker LG Chem declined 0.61 percent to 65,200 won.

The local currency was trading at 1,184.2 won against the US dollar, up 3.7 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)