Seoul stocks open slightly higher Friday

Stocks opened slightly higher Friday as investors remain uncertain about the future direction of the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy.

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,329.17 points on Thursday, down 7.7 points, or 0.33 percent, from the previous trading day. [YONHAP]

Stocks opened slightly higher Friday as investors remain uncertain about the future direction of the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy.

The benchmark Kospi rose 4.68 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,333.85 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The Kospi traded in positive territory despite continued Wall Street losses after the Fed's fourth straight rate increase of 0.75 percentage points.

Investors remained uncertain about the U.S. monetary policy direction after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that rates could rise to higher-than-expected levels.

In Seoul, most market heavyweights got off to a weak start.

Samsung Electronics stayed almost flat and SK hynix inched up 0.36 percent.

Korean Air Lines jumped 4.61 percent following its strong third-quarter earnings results announced a day earlier.

Auto industry shares were mixed. Hyundai Motor added 0.31 percent, while its affiliate Kia remained unchanged.

The won was exchanging hands at 1,425.3 won against the dollar, up 1.5 won from the previous day's close, as of 9:15 a.m.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO, YONHAP [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]