South Korean stocks got off to a strong start Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index jumped 31.68 points, or 1.3 percent, to 2,471.72 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, all three major US indexes gained ground, led by the strong performance of tech giants, such as Apple and TSMC.

In Seoul, most big-cap shares started in positive territory.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics soared 2.65 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix added 1.54 percent.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution rose 0.38 percent, its smaller rival Samsung SDI gained 1.46 percent, and Posco Future M went up 1.46 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor also increased 0.78 percent, and its smaller affiliate Kia advanced 0.57 percent.

Internet portal operator Naver climbed 1.15 percent, and Kakao, the operator of the country's top mobile messenger, jumped 2.29 percent.

Bio giant Samsung Biologics gained 0.4 percent, and Celltrion shot up 2.75 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,335.10 won against the US dollar, up 4.6 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)