Seoul stocks open higher tracking Wall Street gains as Fed official signals cautious rate hike approach

Seoul stocks opened higher Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street as investor concerns over further US interest rate hikes eased following dovish remarks from a Federal Reserve official.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index was trading 96.9 points, or 1.47 percent higher, at 6,676.38, as of 9:16 a.m.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.18 percent, while the S&P 500 gained 1.06 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.4 percent.

Investor sentiment improved after Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller signaled a cautious approach to further monetary tightening, easing concerns that the US central bank could resume rate hikes.

In Seoul, most market top-caps were trading higher.

Chip giant Samsung Electronics rose 1.8 percent, while rival SK hynix added 2.32 percent.

Top carmaker Hyundai Motor was up 1.17 percent, battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 1.92 percent, and defense giant Hanwha Aerospace advanced 1.34 percent.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,356.7 won against the US dollar, up 0.8 won from the previous stock trading session, as of 9:16 a.m. (Yonhap)