Seoul shares start higher on U.S. gains

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday as investor sentiment was boosted by last week's gains on Wall Street, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed 13.77 points, or 0.74 percent, to trade at 1874.60 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Shares gathered ground across the board, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics increasing 0.84 percent and leading carmaker Hyundai Motor adding 0.46 percent. Top builder Hyundai Engineering & Construction climbed 1.15 percent.

U.S. stocks ended higher Friday due to rising hopes for the settlement of the fiscal cliff issue, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average moving up 0.37 percent and the NASDAQ composite index gaining 0.57 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,088.00 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 4.20 won from Friday's close. (Yonhap News)