South Korean stocks opened higher on Tuesday despite overnight Wall Street losses, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 9.33 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,163.05 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

On Monday (local time), US stocks dropped, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index dropping for a second straight session.

Large-cap stocks on the Seoul bourse were mixed across the board. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics inched up 0.09 percent, and global chipmaker SK hynix was up 0.35 percent.

State-run utility firm Kepco declined 0.68 percent while top steelmaker Posco was down 0.36 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,129.8 won against the US dollar, down 2.5 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)