Seoul stocks opened higher Monday tracking Wall Street gains last week, as investors await the upcoming rate-setting meeting by the US Federal Reserve.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 14.72 points, or 0.65 percent, to 2,283.12 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

US stocks surged Friday, despite weaker than expected earnings results from tech heavyweights, like Amazon and Meta, as investor woes over higher inflation eased.

The Dow Jones Index added 2.6 percent, the S&P500 rose 2.5 percent, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite edged up 2.9 percent at the market close Friday.

Investors are paying close attention to the Fed policy meeting scheduled for Nov. 1 and 2, amid hopes that recent economic data could prod the Fed to raise its policy rate by a smaller-than-expected margin.

In Seoul, most large cap shares opened higher.

Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics inched up 2.44 percent, while chip giant SK hynix rose 1.44 percent.

Chemical companies and automakers started lower. Major chemical firm, LG Chem slid 0.81 percent, while Hyundai Motor, the country's leading automaker, lost 0.91 percent.

The local currency had been trading at 1,420.2 won against the US dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 1.30 won from Friday's close. (Yonhap)