Samsung Elec shares up sharply on $2 billion share buyback plan

The company logo is displayed at the Samsung news conference at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas January 7, 2013. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

SEOUL (Reuters) - Shares of South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd opened sharply higher on Thursday on the news that it will buy back $2 billion of its own stock. Samsung shares were up 5.8 percent as of (7.02 a.m. EST) after opening 6 percent higher. Samsung announced the buyback plan, its first since 2007, after market close on Wednesday. (Reporting by Se Young Lee; Editing by Stephen Coates)