Seoul shares open higher on US gains
The dealing room of Hana Bank in central Seoul, Aug. 11. Yonhap
Seoul shares opened a tad higher Monday tracking gains on Wall Street, as investors awaited key U.S. inflation data this week for clues on the future path of the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 0.93 point, or 0.03 percent, to 3,210.94 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
On Friday (U.S. time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.47 percent to 44,175.61, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.98 percent to 21,450.02.
In Seoul, large-cap stocks were mixed.
Chip giant SK hynix rose 2.53 percent, top carmaker Hyundai Motor climbed 0.24 percent and leading steelmaker POSCO Holdings jumped 3.55 percent.
Major battery maker LG Energy Solution gained 1.45 percent and leading refiner SK Innovation increased 1.3 percent.
Among decliners, market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 0.84 percent and leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai shed 0.15 percent.
Hanwha Ocean, the shipbuilding unit of Hanwha Group, dropped 7.05 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,388.55 won against the greenback at 9:15 a.m., up 1.05 won from the previous session.