Seoul shares open higher on tech gains

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows stock and foreign exchange markets open on Tuesday. [NEWS1]

Stocks opened higher Tuesday on the back of gains in big-cap tech and chemical shares.

The Kospi added 9.37 points, or 0.37 percent, to 2,556.45 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, U.S. shares ended mixed as investors were awaiting the development regarding talks on a debt ceiling deal to avert a federal default.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.42 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5 percent.

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he had a productive debt ceiling discussion with President Joe Biden late Monday at the White House, but they have not yet reached any agreement, according to foreign media reports.

In Seoul, tech and chemical shares led the upturn of the index.

Samsung Electronics rose 0.15 percent, and battery maker LG Energy Solution jumped 1.96 percent.

Samsung SDI grew 0.43 percent, and LG Chem increased 0.86 percent.

SK hynix shed 0.41 percent.

Hyundai Motor cilmbed 0.24 percent and Kia advanced 0.79 percent.

Bio shares also opened higher, with Samsung Biologics rising 0.25 percent and Celltrion adding 0.51 percent.

Portal operators lost ground. Naver fell 1.4 percent, and Kakao inched down 0.35 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,311.3 won against the dollar at 9:15 a.m., down 6.8 won from the previous session's close.

Yonhap