Stocks open higher on Wall Street gains

SEOUL, July 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday taking a cue from overnight Wall Street gains, led by tech and chemical shares.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 13.65 points, or 0.57 percent, to 2,405.42 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Market cap Samsung Electronics continued to rise, moving up 0.92 percent and chipmaker SK hynix increased 0.58 percent. LG Display gained 1.38 percent.

Chemical shares gathered ground, with industry leader LG Chem rising 4.01 percent and top cosmetics maker AmorePacific climbing 1.04 percent. LG Household & Health Care added 0.55 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,139.50 won against the U.S. dollar, up 5.60 won from the previous session's close.

colin@yna.co.kr
(END)