South Korean stocks opened higher Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, as major chipmakers and platform operators gathered ground on hope of a better outlook.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 6.72 points, or 0.27 percent, to 2,502.53 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, US shares ended higher as Meta Platforms' upbeat quarterly earnings report boosted tech shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.57 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 2.43 percent.

In Seoul, top-cap shares opened mixed.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.93 percent and chipmaker SK hynix soared 1.91 percent.

Internet giant Naver jumped 1.97 percent, and Kakao, the operator of the popular mobile messenger KakaoTalk, advanced 2.33 percent

But battery and chemical shares fell on profit-taking.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution went down 1.19 percent, and top chemical firm LG Chem shed 0.81 percent. Samsung SDI lost 1.42 percent.

Carmakers also opened lower, with No. 1 automaker Hyundai Motor falling 1.19 percent, and its affiliate Kia skidding 1.04 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,338.70 won against the US dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 0.7 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)