Seoul shares open higher ahead of Fed's policy meeting

SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Yonhap) -- Seoul stocks opened higher Tuesday ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting this week.

The benchmark Korea Composite Price Index (KOSPI) rose 14.34 points, or 0.63 percent, to 2,307.95 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight on Wall Street, stocks closed slightly lower as investors await the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meeting scheduled this week.

Investors expect the Fed to make another rate hike this week, but some cautiously believe that the central bank may go easy on a sharp rate increase.

In Seoul, most large cap shares started higher.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 1.18 percent, while major chipmaker SK hynix slid 0.24 percent.

Auto shares lost ground. Hyundai Motors dropped 0.91 percent, and sister affiliate Kia inched down 0.3 percent.

Battery makers had a strong start. Battery maker LG Energy Solution added 2.08 percent, SK Innovation surged 4.91 percent, and battery materials maker POSCO Chemical added 0.75 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,427.7 won against the greenback, down 3.4 won from Monday's close as of 9:15 a.m.

fairydust@yna.co.kr
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