An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap)

Seoul shares opened higher Thursday, following gains on Wall Street, with investors remaining concerned about the Federal Reserve's additional rate hikes to tame inflation.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 3.11 points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,514.81 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5 percent to 35,273.03, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ also added 0.5 percent to 14,265.86.

There have been expectations that the Fed has nearly completed its hiking cycle, and rate cuts are likely in 2024. But the latest Fed minutes showed that officials have no intention to ease the monetary policy.

In Seoul, tech, auto and airline stocks led gains.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.1 percent, top carmaker Hyundai Motor climbed 0.1 percent, and national flag carrier Korean Air gained 1.3 percent, and Korea Aerospace Industries, the country's sole aircraft manufacturer, was up 0.1 percent.

Among decliners, leading steelmaker Posco Holdings fell 0.1 percent, No. 1 shipping firm HMM declined 1.2 percent, and leading cosmetics firm Amorepacific shed 0.9 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,299.60 won against the US dollar, up 0.9 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)