South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday, as investors await to see a widely expected interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve in the policy meeting later this week.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 17.57 points, or 0.7 percent, to trade at 2,519.10 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The Fed is expected to raise the interest rate by another 0.25 percentage point at the end of the Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday in what will be the latest move in its aggressive monetary tightening to tame inflation.

US stocks ended nearly flat Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it is buying First Republic Bank from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in the wake of the collapse of regional banks in the US

In Seoul, tech and chemical blue-chips drove up the index. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics gained nearly 1 percent, and top battery maker LG Energy Solution was up more than 1.2 percent.

Battery components maker Posco Future M jumped nearly 4.8 percent.

Bio tech firm Samsung Biologics was down about 1.4 percent. Leading container shipper HMM fell 1.8 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,341.10 won against the US dollar at 9:15 a.m., down 3.4 won from Friday's close.

The South Korean financial markets were closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday. (Yonhap)