Shares open higher as U.S. Treasury yields fall

The Kospi rose 10.84 points, or 0.44 percent, to 2,454.80 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show stock and foreign exchange markets open on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Shares opened higher Wednesday following gains on Wall Street over a slide in U.S. Treasury yields.

The Kospi rose 10.84 points, or 0.44 percent, to 2,454.80 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

U.S. stocks closed higher overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average edging up 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq Composite rising 0.9 percent.

In Seoul, battery and bio-related shares opened stronger, with LG Energy Solution rising 2.03 percent and SK bioscience adding 2.52 percent. Samsung Biologics also rose 0.55 percent.

Telecom companies also gained ground, with SK Telecom rising 0.1 percent and KT jumping 0.76 percent.

Kakao rose 1.71 percent. Its affiliate, Kakao Bank, rose 2.84 percent as the company announced its third-quarter net profit jumped 21 percent from a year earlier in the third quarter.

Steelmaker Posco Holdings rose 0.65 percent, and Hyundai Motor also added 0.11 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1303.85 won against the U.S. dollar at 9:15 a.m., down 4.05 won from the previous session's close.

BY KIM JU-YEON, YONHAP [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]