South Korean shares opened slightly higher Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street led by estimate-beating US jobs data.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 4.76 points, or 0.22 percent, to 2,140.13 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Major US stock indices closed higher on surprising US jobs data.

The NASDAQ Composite gained 0.52 percent to a fresh record high of 10,207.63 on Thursday (New York time), following reports that the US jobless rate in June fell to 11.1 percent with a solid 4.8 million jobs increase.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 advanced 0.36 percent and 0.45 percent, respectively.

In Seoul, large caps traded mixed.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics stayed flat, while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix rose 0.24 percent.

Top pharmaceutical firm Samsung BioLogics retreated 1.78 percent, with SK Biopharmaceuticals spiking 29.92 percent on its second day on the main bourse.

Leading chemical maker LG Chem jumped 2.62 percent, and giant automaker Hyundai Motor climbed 0.81 percent.

Internet giant Naver slid 0.18 percent, with its rival Kakao adding 0.35 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,199.75 won against the US dollar, up 0.25 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)