Seoul shares open higher on Wall Street gains

SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korean shares got off to a strong start on Wednesday, taking a cue from solid gains on Wall Street on the back of a recovery in oil prices.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 20.40 points, or 1.09 percent, to 1,882.09 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the Dow Jones industrial average jumped 1.78 percent and the Nasdaq composite index advanced 1.09 percent, as OPEC's renewed calls for production cuts brought up oil prices.

Most blue chips were in positive terrain, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics growing 1.04 percent, No. 1 steelmaker POSCO spiking 3.52 percent and industry leader LG Chem surging 2.69 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,198.7 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 5.5 won from Tuesday's close.

graceoh@yna.co.kr
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