Seoul shares opened higher Tuesday, tracking gains on Wall Street, as investors await economic data over the next few days for clues on the outlook for global central banks' monetary policies.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 6.29 points, or 0.25 percent, to 2,549.70 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, US stocks ended in positive territory, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.62 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbing 0.84 percent.

Investors are keeping an eye on economic data, including US personal spending and income and the China manufacturing PMI, to be released this week, as they will indicate whether economic activity is slowing enough to keep further rate hikes at bay or not, analysts said.

In Seoul, most large-cap stocks were mixed.

Market behemoth Samsung Electronics Co. rose 0.3 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. climbed 2.1 percent, top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. gained 0.2 percent, and national flag carrier Korean Air Co. was up 0.7 percent.

Among decliners, leading cosmetics firm Amorepacific Corp. fell 0.6 percent, leading battery maker LG Energy Solution declined 0.5 percent, and leading steelmaker Posco Holdings was down 0.5 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,322.70 won against the US dollar at 9:15 a.m., up 0.7 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)