SEOUL, Jan. 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks opened higher Monday on strong individual buying ahead of the fourth-quarter corporate earnings season this week and hopes for vaccines against the new coronavirus.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 15.05 points, or 0.48 percent, to 3,155.68 points in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Airline, chemical and bio large caps did well, while auto and insurance shares traded bearish.
Top cap Samsung Electronics rose 0.23 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix advanced 1.95 percent.
Pharmaceutical firm Samsung Biologics went down 0.63 percent, but Celltrion added 1.94 percent.
Top automaker Hyundai Motor lost 0.58 percent. Korean Air Lines, South Korea's biggest carrier, surged 11.62 percent.
Leading chemical firm LG Chem climbed 0.51 percent, while rechargeable battery maker Samsung SDI declined 0.38 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,104.25 won against the U.S. dollar, down 1.05 won from the previous session's close.

Sumber : yonhapnews.co.kr