Seoul shares open higher ahead of Powell's Jackson Hole speech

South Korea's stock market opened higher Friday as investors awaited the gathering of central bankers in the United States.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 9.82 points, or 0.4 percent, to trade at 2,487.08 as of 9:15 a.m.

Investors will be closely looking for the clue into the pace and the scale of the US central bank's monetary tightening plan at the meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, slated for Friday (US time), where Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to give a speech.

Overnight, the US stock market closed higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.98 percent, the S&P 500 gained spiked 1.41 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rallied 1.67 percent.

In Seoul, most large-cap stocks opened higher.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics gained 1.34 percent, and leading car battery maker LG Energy Solution went up 0.98 percent. No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix added 1.91 percent, and top chemical firm LG Chem increased 1.62 percent.

Hyundai Motor traded flat, and battery maker Samsung SDI declined 0.34 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,334.10 won against the US dollar, up 1.1 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)