Seoul shares opened higher Wednesday helped by gains in techs and autos amid renewed concerns over the US banking crisis.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 10.01 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,490.52 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The main index bucked losses on Wall Street.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.5 percent amid a sell-off in banks.

Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and other US lenders plunged after JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s chief Jamie Dimon warned the US banking crisis will be felt for years to come.

In Seoul, large-cap stocks advanced across the board.

No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. rose 0.8 percent, leading home appliance maker LG Electronics Inc. climbed 2.2 percent, top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. gained 1.3 percent, and leading wireless services provider SK Telecom Co. was up 0.9 percent.

Among decliners, leading refiner SK Innovation Co. fell 0.3 percent, the state-run Korea Gas Corp. declined 0.6 percent, and leading steelmaker Posco Holdings shed 0.7 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,310.95 won against the greenback as of 9:15 a.m., up 4.85 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)