Seoul shares open higher on Fed rate pause hopes

South Korean stocks rebounded Thursday from a crash the previous day, as weaker-than-expected US jobs data raised hopes that the Federal Reserve may refrain from further rate increases.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 9.08 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,414.77 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, US shares rebounded after a slump the previous session thanks to big tech gains, including Tesla, Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon.

Investors hope that the Fed may not go for an additional rate hike as recent data showed that the labor market and the service sector cooled a little bit in September.

On the Seoul bourse, top-cap shares traded mixed.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics dropped 0.74 percent, while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix gained 2.95 percent.

Battery shares traded in positive terrain, with industry leader LG Energy Solution advancing 2.3 percent and smaller rival Samsung SDI rising 0.93 percent.

Posco shares also gained ground.

Steel giant Posco Holdings jumped 2.35 percent and its battery component-making affiliate Posco Future M added 1.64 percent.

Internet portal operator Naver rose 0.21 percent, and Kakao, the operator of the country's top mobile messenger, went up 0.96 percent.

Auto shares were mixed, with Hyundai Motor down 0.05 percent and its affiliate Kia up 0.85 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,352.50 won against the US dollar at 9:15 a.m., up 11 won from Wednesday's close. (Yonhap)

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