Korean stocks open higher Monday amid eased inflation woes

Electronic display boards at Hana Bank in central Seoul show stock and foreign exchange markets on Monday morning. [YONHAP]

Stocks opened higher Monday as eased inflation woes raised hopes for less aggressive rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

The Kospi added 8.11 points, or 0.33 percent, to reach 2,491.27 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average grew 0.1 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.88 percent on hopes that the Fed could slow the pace of its aggressive monetary tightening over eased inflation woes.

The United States' consumer price index for October marked the lowest annual increase of the year at 7.7 percent. The figure was lower than economists' expectations of 7.9 percent.

Last week, the Kospi jumped more than 5 percent.

In Seoul on Monday, top-cap shares traded mixed, with carmakers and chemicals rising to lead the overall market upturn.

Hyundai Motor surged 3.49 percent, and its affiliate Kia soared 3.24 percent.

LG Energy Solutions inched up 0.16 percent, and LG Chem rose 1.22 percent.

Posco also rose 2.45 percent.

Naver rose 0.26 percent, and Kakao, operator of Kakao Talk, added 1.36 percent.

But Samsung Electronics fell 0.48 percent, and SK hynix lost 1.07 percent on profit-taking.

The won had been trading at 1,315.85 won against the dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 2.55 won from the previous session's close.

BY LIM JEONG-WON, YONHAP [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]