South Korean stocks opened higher Friday, tracking an overnight surge on Wall Street as investors shook off hotter-than-expected inflation data and bet price increases would soon peak.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 34.03 points, or 1.57 percent, to 2,196.90 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, Wall Street made a remarkable turnaround to close higher, after plunging significantly earlier in the session, as investors shrugged off persistently higher-than-expected consumer price growth.

US consumer prices rose 0.4 percent in September and 8.2 percent from a year earlier, despite the US Federal Reserve's aggressive monetary tightening policy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 2.83 percent, and the S&P 500 rose 2.6 percent. The Nasdaq Composite added 2.23 percent.

In Seoul, most big-cap shares opened higher.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics added 1.45 percent, and chip giant SK hynix inched up 0.11 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor rose 0.61 percent, and its affiliate Kia gained 0.44 percent.

Major chemical firm LG Chem went up 1.39 percent, and battery maker LG Energy Solutions added 1.47 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,430.10 won against the US dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 1.2 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)