South Korean stocks opened higher Friday, led by big-cap tech shares, as investors welcomed the progress in the United States' debt ceiling deal.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 18.7 points, or 0.73 percent, to 2,587.87 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, US stocks closed higher as the House of Representatives passed a debt ceiling bill to avoid a federal default.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.47 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.28 percent.

In Seoul, large-cap tech stocks led the upturn of the index.

Tech heavyweight Samsung Electronics jumped 1.27 percent, and chip giant SK hynix surged 1.54 percent.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution grew 0.68 percent, and LG Chem climbed 1.16 percent. Samsung SDI added 0.42 percent.

Carmakers opened higher, with top automaker Hyundai Motor rising 0.66 percent and Kia increasing 0.59 percent.

Large-cap bio shares opened mixed. Samsung Biologics inched up 0.25 percent, while Celltrion lost 0.63 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,311.5 won against the US dollar at around 9:15 a.m., up 10.1 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)