Seoul shares open 0.4 pct higher; refiners down

SEOUL Dec 3 (Reuters) - Seoul shares opened up 0.4 percent on Thursday helped by a positive ending on Wall Street overnight, but refiners including SK Energy (096770.KS) underperformed after news they faced fines for alleged price-fixing.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index .KS11 (KOSPI) was up 0.48 percent at 1,599.20 points as of 0004 GMT.

(Reporting by Jungyoun Park; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner) ((jungyoun.park@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5643; Reuters Messaging: jungyoun.park.reuters.com@reuters.net)) ((If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)