South Korean stocks opened higher Monday, taking a cue from the Wall Street gains.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 16.43 points, or 0.55 percent, to 2,985.23 points in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 1 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5 percent Friday.

Investors are waiting for the release of China's economic data and the virtual summit of the leaders of the US and China set for this week.

China's October retail sales and jobs data are set to be released later in the day. US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, will talk virtually Monday (local time) to discuss bilateral issues.

In Seoul, top cap Samsung Electronics advanced 0.99 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix jumped 3.29 percent, and pharmaceutical giant Samsung Biologics climbed 2.52 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor moved up 0.72 percent, but electric car battery maker LG Chem lost 1.91 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,181.05 won against the US dollar, down 1.45 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)