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

Seoul shares opened higher Monday as investors scooped up technology and other large-cap stocks on bargain hunting.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 18.25 points, or 0.69 percent, to trade at 2,656.30 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Institutions bought a net 70 billion won ($56 million) worth of stocks, offsetting foreigners and individuals' stock selling valued at 72 billion won.

Most large-cap stocks advanced across the board.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. rose 0.9 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. climbed 0.5 percent, top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. gained 0.5 percent, and national flag carrier Korean Air Lines Co. was up 0.7 percent.

Among decliners, the state-run Korea Gas Corp. fell 0.3 percent, leading chemical firm LG Chem Ltd. shed 0.4 percent, and Samsung Biologics Co. declined 0.4 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,251.45 won against the US dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 4.75 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)