Korean shares opened higher Monday as investors' appetite for risk assets remained strong following last week's gains on Wall Street.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 6.24 points, or 0.32 percent, to 1977.65 in the first 15 minutes of trading.
KOSPI (Bloomberg)
On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average advanced 1.28 percent to 17,213.31. The tech-heavy Nasdaq also climbed 1.85 percent to 4,748.47.
Large cap stocks, such as techs, chemical and cosmetics companies, were in positive terrain, while builders and transportation stocks suffering losses. Among gainers, market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.32 percent, and LG Chem was up 1.69 percent.
In contrast, Hyundai Motor lost 0.67 percent, and Hyundai Engineering & Construction shed 0.5 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,190.35 won against the U.S. dollar, up 3.25 won from Friday's close. (Yonhap)