Seoul shares open up, Hyundai E&C shares jump

SEOUL Dec 21 (Reuters) - Seoul shares opened higher on Tuesday after gains on Wall Street, and as investors' anxiety about growing geopolitical tensions on the peninsula eased.

Shares in Hyundai Engineering & Construction were up 5.6 percent after news its shareholders were set to name Hyundai Motor Group preferred bidder for South Korea's largest builder, having ended talks on a 5.5 trillion won ($4.8 billion) takeover by Hyundai Group.[ID:nTOE6BJ02U]

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was up 0.79 percent at 2,036.21 points as of 0004 GMT.

(Reporting by Jungyoun Park; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)

(Created by Daniel Magnowski)