Seoul shares open higher on U.S. gains

South Korean stocks began higher Monday as investor sentiment got a boost from last week's gains on Wall Street, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 0.45 percent, or 8.84 points, to 1966.63 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Shares gathered ground across the board, with tech behemoth Samsung Electronics increasing 0.14 percent and top steelmaker POSCO adding 1.81 percent. Leading builder Hyundai Engineering & Construction moved up 1.46 percent.

U.S. stocks ended higher Friday on better-than-expected jobs reports, with the Dow Jones industrial average increasing 1.08 percent and the Nasdaq composite index advancing 1.18 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1092.70 won to the greenback as of 9:15 a.m., up 4.70 won from Friday's close. (Yonhap News)