[THE INVESTOR] South Korean shares opened higher on Oct. 17, with investors giving mixed performance in large cap trading.

The benchmark KOSPI rose 1.13 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,023.79 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Market leader Samsung Electronics shed 1.08 percent, while the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. gained 0.97 percent.

Front-running automaker Hyundai Motor climbed 1.5 percent, and global chipmaker SK hynix also ticked up 0.12 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,137.60 won against the US greenback, down 5.50 won from the previous session’s close.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)