Kospi surges 1.84% to track Wall Street gains

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows stock market prices as it opens on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

Shares opened higher Tuesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, as investors were buoyed by looming hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve may slash key rates this year.

The Kospi added 49.32 points, or 1.84 percent, to 2,725.95 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.46 percent higher, and the tech heavy Nasdaq rose 1.19 percent. The S&P 500 gained 1.03 percent

In Seoul, Samsung Electronics moved up 3.09 percent, and SK hynix climbed 4.1 percent.

Pharmaceutical firms also kicked off higher, with Samsung Biologics rising 2.2 percent and Celltrion gaining 3.49 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,356.6 won against dollar, up 6.2 won from the previous session's close.

The Korean financial market was closed the previous day, the alternative holiday for Children's Day.

BY CHOI HAE-JIN, YONHAP [choi.haejin@joongang.co.kr]