Seoul shares opened higher Thursday, after a holiday in the US, helped by tech gains amid concerns over the possible delay of a long-awaited interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 7.46 points, or 0.27 percent, to 2,804.79 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

US stock markets were closed on Juneteenth on Wednesday to commemorate the end of slavery in the US The Fed recently pared back projections for rate cuts this year.

In Seoul, tech stocks were lead gainers.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. rose 0.5 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. climbed 1.1 percent, leading refiner SK Innovation Co. jumped 16 percent, and state-run Korea Gas Corp. gained 2.9 percent.

Among decliners, top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. fell 0.5 percent, national flag carrier Korean Air Co. declined 0.5 percent, and leading steelmaker Posco Holdings shed 0.4 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,383.50 won against the US dollar, down 1.7 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)