Seoul stocks open higher amid hopes for Santa rally

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday, tracking pre-Christmas gains on Wall Street boosted by confidence in the US economy and hopes for a year-end Santa Claus rally. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 22.97 points, or 0.56 percent, to 4,131.59 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Major US indexes ended higher Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding 0.6 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rising 0.22 percent. The US Volatility Index, also known as the