Seoul shares open higher amid persistent rate hike woes

South Korea's stock market opened higher Tuesday, as investors digested the possibility of the US Federal Reserve continuing its aggressive monetary tightening.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 16.05 points, or 0.66 percent, to trade at 2,442.94 as of 9:15 a.m.

The market has faced renewed fears about aggressive rate hikes since last Friday when Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at the annual Jackson Hole meeting that the US central bank will keep rates at an elevated level to tame four-decade high inflation.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.6 percent, the S&P 500 fell 0.7 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1 percent.

In Seoul, most large-cap stocks opened mixed.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics lost 0.17 percent, battery maker Samsung SDI shed 1.04 percent and Samsung Biologics, the biotech arm of Samsung Group, declined 0.12 percent.

Leading car battery maker LG Energy Solution gained 2.61 percent and Hyundai Motor went up 1.59 percent. No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix inched up 0.11 percent, and top chemical firm LG Chem added 0.83 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,346.90 won against the US dollar, up 3.5 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)