Seoul stocks opened higher Thursday amid woes over faster rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 7.79 points, or 0.32 percent, to 2,439.7 in the first 16 minutes of trading.

After his hawkish stance a day before, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that no decision has been made on the pace of the Fed's rate hikes.

US stocks wavered, with Wall Street's three main stock indexes closing mixed, as traders tried to assess Powell's comments.

In Seoul, most large cap stocks were trading higher.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics inched up 0.66 percent, and smaller rival SK hynix added 0.12 percent.

Top carmaker Hyundai Motor was up 1.77 percent, portal operator Naver gained 0.74 percent, and instant messenger app Kakao was up 1.86 percent.

Battery makers were off to a weak start. Leading battery maker LG energy Solutions declined 0.71 percent, rival Samsung SDI dipped 1.59 percent, and SK Innovation, the parent company of battery maker SK On, was down 0.35 percent.

The local currency was changing hands at 1,315.7 won against the greenback, up 5.7 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)