Shares open higher on year's last trading day

The Kospi rose 2.19 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,615.69 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 Thursday. [NEWS1]

Shares opened higher Thursday, the last trading day of the year, following overnight gains on Wall Street.

The Kospi rose 2.19 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,615.69 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

U.S. stock indexes finished higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.30 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite adding 0.16 percent.

In Seoul, major shares were in mixed territory.

Carmaker Hyundai Motor gained 1.01 percent, and Kia went up 2.68 percent.

Battery maker LG Energy Solution increased by 0.36 percent, and Samsung SDI rose by 1.1 percent.

But chipmakers were bearish, with Samsung Electronics falling 0.51 percent and SK hynix dropping 0.28 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,290.5 won against the dollar, down 3.7 won from the previous session's close.

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