SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks got off to a strong start on Friday, tracking overnight rallies on Wall Street, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) soared 33.79 points, or 1.76 percent, to 1,955.83 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Financial shares, led by banks, were bullish as a breakthrough agreement on Europe's debt crisis helped stave off uncertainties over the financial sector. State-run Woori Finance Holdings surged 8.49 percent and KB Financial jumped 5.67 percent.

Samsung Electronics, which announced its third-quarter earnings ahead of the market's opening, gained 0.87 percent despite posting a weaker bottom line.

The tech behemoth said its third-quarter earnings declined 23 percent from one year ago, hurt by a slow recovery in consumer electronics markets worldwide.

On Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average climbed 2.86 percent, while the tech-focused Nasdaq composite index advanced 3.32 percent on renewed optimism over the eurozone debt problem.

The local currency was trading at 1,103.7 won to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 11.5 won from Thursday's close.