Seoul shares open higher ahead of U.S. job data

SEOUL, Aug. 5 (Yonhap) -- Seoul shares opened higher Friday as investors await the release of July job data in the U.S., which could hint at upcoming monetary tightening in the world's largest economy.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 12.65 points, or 0.51 percent, to trade at 2,485.76 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, U.S. stocks closed mostly unchanged ahead of July's job report, set to be released Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined around 0.3 percent, the S&P 500 slipped 0.1 percent and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.4 percent.

Investor sentiment has been weighed down by concerns over a recession, as major economies are tightening their monetary policies to bring red-hot inflation under control.

In Seoul, most stocks traded mixed, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics adding 0.16 percent, SK hynix gaining 0.41 percent.

Samsung Biologics, the biotech arm of South Korea's Samsung Group, increased 1.37 percent and major battery maker LG Chem went up 2.3 percent.

Internet giant Naver fell 0.18 percent and Kakao, the operator of messenger application Kakao Talk, also declined 0.61 percent.

Top carmaker Hyundai Motor traded flat.

The local currency was trading at 1,302.50 won against the U.S. dollar, up 7.60 won from the previous session's close.

jaeyeon.woo@yna.co.kr
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