Seoul shares open higher on US gains

Seoul shares opened higher Thursday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, boosted by dovish comments on interest rates by Federal Reserve officials.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 18.59 points, or 0.8 percent, to 2,468.67 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2 percent to 33,804.87, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.7 percent to 13,659.68.

Fed officials said the US central bank doesn't need to keep tightening as rates are near their peak and it needs to take a wait-and-see approach before raising rates further.

In Seoul, large-cap stocks were mixed across the board.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. rose 1.6 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. climbed 2.1 percent, leading car battery maker LG Energy Solution gained 1.2 percent and national flag carrier Korean Air Co. was up 0.7 percent.

Among decliners, top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. fell 0.6 percent, No. 3 refiner S-Oil Corp. declined 1.5 percent and the country's sole aircraft manufacturer Korea Aerospace Industries Co. shed 0.4 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,339.75 won against the US dollar at 9:15 a.m., down 1.05 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)