Kospi opens higher following Samsung's stellar earnings report

Stocks opened slightly higher Tuesday backed by a strong earnings performance by Samsung Electronics and overnight U.S. stock gains.

The Kospi gained 7.81 points, or 0.29 percent, to 2,665.25 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Samsung Electronics announced earlier in the day its first quarter operating profit shot up more than tenfold from a year ago in the first quarter, with its chip business shifting to the black for the first time in five quarters.

Overnight, Wall Street shares advanced ahead of key corporate earnings announcements and the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate decision meeting this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq also added 0.4 percent. The S&P 500 gained 0.3 percent.

Samsung Electronics went up 0.52 percent, while LG Electronics added 0.43 percent.

Battery shares also fared better, with LG Energy Solution rising 1.59 percent and Posco Future M gaining 0.87 percent.

On the contrary, auto and finance shares lost ground, with Hyundai Motor losing 0.99 percent and KB Financial tumbling 1.96 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,375.3 won against the U.S. dollar, up 1.7 won from the previous session's close.

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