Seoul shares open higher on U.S. gain

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday on the back of overnight gains on Wall Street, curbing earlier concerns that improved U.S. jobs data may weigh down on investors' sentiment, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 19.99 points, or 1.01 percent, to 2,000.40 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Shares gathered ground across the board, with Samsung Electronics adding 1.54 percent and No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor climbing 0.65 percent. Leading steelmaker POSCO moved up 0.3 percent.

U.S. stocks closed higher Friday on the back of the country's improved jobs data, with the Dow Jones industrial average adding 1.26 percent and the tech-laden NASDAQ composite index rising 0.73 percent.

Market watchers earlier anticipated that better-than-expected jobs data may weigh down on investors as it may induce the U.S. central bank to commence an early tapering of its economic stimulus.

The local currency was trading at 1,052.45 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 5.55 won from Friday's close. (Yonhap News)