South Korean stocks opened higher Monday on relieved investor sentiment following FBI's no charges against democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in an email scandal reinvestigation ahead of this week's US presidential election.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 15.88 points, or 0.80 percent, to 1,997.90 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The broad index bucked overnight losses on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.24 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index declining 0.24 percent.

Still, analysts said the local stock market is likely to remain volatile until investors find the results of the US presidential election later this week.

"Investors will either take a wait-and-see attitude or remain cautious," said Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities.

Large-cap stocks were mixed across the board. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. gained 1.04 percent and top automaker Hyundai Motor was up 0.74 percent.

Meanwhile, state-run utility firm Korea Electric Power Corp. declined 0.74.

The local currency was trading at 1,138.80 won against the US dollar, up 4.60 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)