Stocks open higher on hopes of Fed rate cuts

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows stock market open on Friday. [YONHAP]

Korean stocks opened higher Friday, tracking overnight gains from Wall Street, as investors remained buoyed by the U.S. Federal Reserve's signal of rate cuts next year.

The benchmark Kospi rose 20.26 points, or 0.8 percent, to 2,564.44 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.43 percent higher, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.19 percent.

In Seoul, leading tech giant Samsung Electronics rose 0.96 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix gained 1.32 percent.

Top battery maker LG Energy Solution rose 1.3 percent, and Samsung SDI added 2.79 percent.

Hyundai Motor increased by 1.84 percent, and its sister company, Kia, moved up by 1.83 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,294.5 won against the U.S. dollar, up 0.9 won from the previous session's close.

BY PARK EUN-JEE, YONHAP [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]