South Korean shares opened higher Tuesday on overnight tech gains on Wall Street, despite a surge in new coronavirus cases here.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 16.1 points, or 0.69 percent, to 2,342.27 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Trading kicked off bullish after a 1.17 percent plunge in the previous session amid virus woes.

Investor sentiment was boosted after the tech-savvy Nasdaq Composite advanced 86.75 points, or 0.76 percent, to close at 11,466.47 on Monday (New York time). Top heavyweights, including Apple and Tesla, led the Nasdaq gains.

In Seoul, most large caps traded higher.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics added 0.93 percent, with No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix advancing 1.2 percent.

Internet portal giant Naver gained 0.31 percent, with its rival Kakao up 0.49 percent.

Leading chemical maker LG Chem edged up 0.27 percent, and EV battery maker Samsung SDI rose 0.77 percent.

Top pharmaceutical firm Samsung Biologics climbed 0.9 percent, while Celltrion slid 0.17 percent.

Hyundai Motor, the country's largest automaker, hiked 0.85 percent, and top steelmaker POSCO rose 0.81 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,186.2 won against the US dollar, up 1.6 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)