Seoul shares open higher on US gains
An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Monday. (Yonhap)
Seoul shares opened higher Monday, tracking gains on Wall Street, with the local stock market also getting a boost from advances in auto and energy shares.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 23.63 points, or 0.96 percent, to 2,479.54 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.42 percent to 44,910.65 points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.83 percent to 19,218.17.
In Seoul, top carmaker Hyundai Motor rose 0.23 percent, while leading battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 2.88 percent.
Leading refiner SK Innovation gained 1.13 percent, and steelmaker Posco Holdings was up 0.53 percent.
Technology stocks were mixed, with Samsung Electronics slipping 0.9 percent and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix advancing 0.94 percent.
Among decliners, top wireless service provider SK Telecom fell 0.65 percent, while leading discount store chain E-Mart shed 1.24 percent and Lotte Shopping was down 0.7 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,398.9 won against the greenback at 9:15 a.m., down 4.2 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)
