Stocks open higher tracking Wall Street gains

Stocks opened higher Tuesday following overnight gains on Wall Street. The benchmark Kospi climbed 9.6 points, or 0.37 percent, to 2,590.31 in the first 15 minutes of trading. All three major U.S. stock indexes finished higher Monday, snapping ...

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the stock market close on Monday. [YONHAP]

Stocks opened higher Tuesday following overnight gains on Wall Street.

The benchmark Kospi climbed 9.6 points, or 0.37 percent, to 2,590.31 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

All three major U.S. stock indexes finished higher Monday, snapping their worst weekly decline since March, on upbeat corporate earnings.

Investors are keeping an eye on the U.S. Federal Reserve's next step after Fed Gov. Michelle Bowman said multiple rate hikes could be required as inflation is still significantly above the Fed's 2 percent target.

In Seoul, large-cap shares traded mixed.

Samsung Electronics rose 0.44 percent, while SK hynix lost more than 1 percent.

LG Energy Solution jumped 1.56 percent, and Samsung SDI advanced 0.81 percent.

Auto shares also gained ground, with Hyundai Motor climbing 0.8 percent and Kia rising 0.52 percent.

Naver fell 0.64 percent, and Kakao dropped 0.38 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,306.7 won against the dollar at 9:15 a.m., up 0.5 won from Monday's close.

BY SOHN DONG-JOO, YONHAP [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]