Seoul shares open higher amid global banking sector instability

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows stock and foreign exchange markets open on Monday. [YONHAP]

Stocks opened higher Tuesday, tracking U.S. gains, as the takeover of troubled Credit Suisse by UBS raised hope for eased concerns about the global banking sector.

The benchmark Kospi added 14.85 points, or 0.62 percent, to 2,394.05 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, U.S. 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.

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

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

Hyundai Motor climbed 0.4 percent, and its affiliate Kia added 0.51 percent.

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

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 dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 3.8 won from the previous session's close.

Yonhap