South Korean stocks opened marginally higher Friday as gains in tech blue-chips offset concerns over a recession overshadowing the US markets.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 5.23 points, or 0.22 percent, to 2,385.57 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The local stock market opened higher, bucking a decline on Wall Street amid uncertainty over the direction of the Federal Reserve for interest rate hikes in the coming months.

In Seoul, market bellwether Samsung Electronics gained 0.8 percent, with chip giant SK hynix rising 2 percent. Battery maker Samsung SDI was also up 0.5 percent.

Financial companies continued to trend upward. Shinhan Financial and Hana Financial both advanced about 0.8 percent.

Bio stocks fell. Samsung Biologics lost about 0.4 percent and Celltrion slid nearly 1 percent.

The local currency had been trading at 1,231.20 won against the US dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 0.9 won from Thursday's close. (Yonhap)