Stocks rally as Samsung Electronics leads gains

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show the Kospi closing at 2,440.04 points on Thursday, up 0.17 percent, or 4.14 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Stocks got off to a strong start Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street.

Kospi jumped 31.68 points, or 1.3 percent, to 2,471.72 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, all three major U.S. indexes gained ground, led by the strong performance of tech giants such as Apple and TSMC.

In Seoul, most big-cap shares started in positive territory.

Samsung Electronics soared 2.65 percent, and chipmaker SK hynix added 1.54 percent.

Battery maker LG Energy Solution rose 0.38 percent, its smaller rival Samsung SDI gained 1.46 percent, and Posco Future M went up 1.46 percent.

Automaker Hyundai Motor also increased by 0.78 percent, and its smaller affiliate, Kia, advanced by 0.57 percent.

Internet portal operator Naver climbed 1.15 percent, and Kakao, the operator of the country's top mobile messenger, jumped 2.29 percent.

Bio firm Samsung Biologics gained 0.4 percent, and Celltrion shot up 2.75 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,335.10 won against the dollar, up 4.6 won from the previous session's close.

BY SEO JI-EUN, YONHAP [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]