South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, as investors remain concerned over the Federal Reserve's additional rate hikes to tame inflation.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 9.6 points, or 0.37 percent, to 2,590.31 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

All three major US stock indexes finished higher Monday, snapping their worst weekly decline since March, on upbeat corporate earnings.

Investors are keeping an eye on the Fed's next step after Fed Gov. Michelle Bowman said multiple rate hikes could be required as inflation is still significantly above the Fed's 2 percent target.

In Seoul, big-cap shares traded mixed.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.44 percent.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution jumped 1.56 percent, and its smaller rival Samsung SDI advanced 0.81 percent.

Top chemicals maker LG Chem went up 0.65 percent, and shipyard HD Hyundai Heavy Industries soared 2.31 percent.

Auto shares also gained ground, with Hyundai Motor climbing 0.8 percent and its affiliate Kia rising 0.52 percent. Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Motor's auto parts affiliate, advanced more than 1.5 percent.

But No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix lost more than 1.07 percent.

Steel giant Posco Holdings and its battery component-making affiliate Posco Future M also fell 0.36 percent and 1.25 percent, respectively.

IT stocks also retreated, with internet portal operator Naver falling 0.64 percent and Kakao, the operator of the popular mobile messenger KakaoTalk, dropping 0.38 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,306.7 won against the US dollar at 9:15 a.m., down 0.5 won from Monday's close. (Yonhap)