Seoul shares opened higher Tuesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, with investors remaining concerned about the U.S. Federal Reserve's additional rate hikes.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 21.37 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,542.07 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.2 percent.
Fed officials have said the U.S. central bank will need to raise rates further this year to tame inflation.
In Seoul, most large-cap stocks advanced.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. rose 1.3 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. climbed 1.7 percent, top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. gained 0.5 percent, and the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. was up 1.4 percent.
Among decliners, leading steelmaker POSCO Holdings fell 0.8 percent, the country's sole aircraft manufacturer, Korea Aerospace Industries Co., declined 0.6 percent, and LG Chem Ltd. shed 0.5 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,299.5 won against the U.S. dollar at 9:15 a.m., up 7 won from the previous session's close.
Source: Yonhap News Agency