Seoul shares opened higher Thursday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 14.7 points, or 0.56 percent, to 2,635.12 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the US stock market gained ground after a sharp decline the previous day sparked by hotter-than-expected inflation data.

Investors have been expecting the US Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates this year amid hope for eased inflation. But January's consumer price index report threw cold water on such expectations.

In Seoul, market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. rose 0.14 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. advanced 0.81 percent.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 1.55 percent, and its smaller rival Samsung SDI gained 1.29 percent. Posco Future M soared 4.38 percent.

IT giants also gained ground, with Naver rising 2.72 percent and Kakao shooting up more than 10 percent on record sales in the fourth quarter.

But auto shares lost ground.

Top carmaker Hyundai Motor retreated 1.22 percent, and its smaller affiliate Kia declined 0.85 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,332.20 won against the US dollar, up 3.2 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)