An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Friday. (Yonhap) Seoul stocks opened higher Friday as investors snapped up bargain-priced semiconductor shares following the previous session's sharp sell-off, despite overnight weakness in US technology stocks.After opening 1.2 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stocks Price Index trimmed some of its earlier gains, rising 53.44 points, or 0.7 percent, to 7,701.53 as of 9:15 a.m.The index plunged 7.89 percent the previous session, dragged by heavy sell-off in Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.Overnight, The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 1 percent to a record high as weaker-than-expected June jobs data eased concerns over a near-term interest rate hike. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.8 percent, weighed down by another sharp sell-off in semiconductor stocks.The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbled 5.4 percent, extending its decline for a second consecutive session.Investors will also be watching reports that AI startup Anthropic is in talks with Samsung Electronics to develop a custom AI chip.Chipmakers rebounded from the previous session's sharp fall.Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 3.67 percent, and chip giant SK hynix gained 1.37 percent.In contrast, AI investment firm SK Square declined 2.23 percent, and leading automaker Hyundai Motor backtracked 2.39 percent.The Korean won was trading at 1,546.3 won against the US dollar, up 9.5 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)