South Korean stocks opened higher Monday, tracking gains in U.S. peers overnight that were fueled by Washington's unexpectedly good payroll data, analysts said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 3.4 points, or 0.17 percent, to 1,988.27 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
IT service companies and financial firms gathered ground, with NAVER, the top Internet portal provider, jumping more than 3 percent and Hana Financial Group, the country's No. 3 lender, gaining 1 percent.
The U.S. labor ministry said on Friday that 204,000 new jobs were created in October, far beating the expectations of 125,000. The data caused the Dow Jones industrial average to rise 1.08 percent.
The Korean won was trading at 1,066.35 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 1.45 won from Friday's close. (Yonhap News)
