Seoul shares open higher on Wall Street gains

SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks got off to a strong start on Tuesday as investor sentiment got a boost from overnight gains in U.S. markets driven by a Greek bank merger deal, analysts said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 25.9 points, or 1.42 percent, to trade at 1,855.40 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
U.S. markets closed sharply higher as a merger between Greece's two major banks raised hopes for easing strains in the eurozone debt crisis. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 2.26 percent and the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index gained 3.32 percent.
Foreign investors snatched up local stocks, snapping the third straight session of sell-offs.
The local currency was trading at 1,072.95 won to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 1.05 won from Monday's close.