South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday, tracking US gains, as the takeover of troubled Credit Suisse by UBS raised hope for eased concerns about the global banking sector.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 14.85 points, or 0.62 percent, to 2,394.05 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, US shares rose after Swiss banking giant UBS on Sunday announced the takeover of Credit Suisse, a deal engineered by the Swiss authorities in an effort to avoid further turmoil in the global banking sector sparked by the failure of American lenders over the past weeks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.39 percent.

In Seoul, most big-cap shares gathered ground.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.17 percent, and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution jumped 2.02 percent.

Samsung SDI advanced 1.4 percent, and LG Chem increased 1.17 percent.

Carmakers also rose, with No. 1 automaker Hyundai Motor climbing 0.4 percent and its affiliate Kia adding 0.51 percent.

Among gainers, Posco Holdings went up 1.25 percent and Posco Chemical surged 5.06 percent.

But chip giant SK hynix inched down 0.12 percent.

Bio shares traded mixed, as Samsung Biologics rose 0.12 percent while Celltrion shed 0.44 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,306.30 won against the US dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 3.8 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)