South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday on the back of upbeat economic data that raised hopes for a faster-than-expected recovery amid the pandemic.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 36.05 points, or 1.39 percent, to 2,627.39 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

South Korea's economy grew 2.1 percent in the July-September period from the previous quarter, faster than its earlier estimate of 1.9 percent expansion.

The country's exports also rebounded, rising 4 percent in November from a year earlier on continued rise in outbound shipments of chips.

In Seoul, most large caps traded higher.

Market behemoth Samsung Electronics jumped 2.25 percent, while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix added 1.44 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor rose 0.55 percent, and leading chemical company LG Chem hiked 0.88 percent.

Pharmaceutical giant Samsung Biologics was up 1.4 percent, and Celltrion spiked 2.5 percent.

Internet portal giant Naver climbed 1.26 percent, with its rival Kakao rising 0.68 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,107.1 won against the US dollar, down 0.6 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)