South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday as investor sentiment got a boost from overnight gains on Wall Street following a brighter outlook on the U.S. fiscal cliff issue, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed 14.22 points, or 0.74 percent, to trade at 1,927.00 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Shares gathered ground across the board, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics increasing 0.28 percent, while leading carmaker Hyundai Motor climbed 1.34 percent. No. 1 chipmaker SK hynix gained 0.99 percent on improved fourth-quarter earnings outlook.

U.S. stocks ended higher Wednesday as investors predicted the fiscal cliff issue to be settled by end-December, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average moving up 0.83 percent and the NASDAQ composite index adding 0.81 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,085.15 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 1.35 won from Wednesday's close. (Yonhap News)