Seoul shares opened higher Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, as investor concerns over further U.S. interest rate hikes eased following dovish remarks from a Federal Reserve official.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was trading 96.9 points, or 1.47 percent, higher at 6,676.38 as of 9:16 a.m.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.18 percent, while the S&P 500 gained 1.06 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.4 percent.

Investor sentiment improved after Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller signaled a cautious approach to further monetary tightening, easing concerns that the U.S. central bank could resume rate hikes. Waller is a voting member of the Fed's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee, and his public comments are closely watched by global markets for signals about the direction of U.S. monetary policy.

The direction of U.S. interest rate policy is a key driver for emerging-market assets such as Korean equities and the won, because expectations of higher U.S. rates tend to strengthen the dollar and pressure capital flows into emerging markets. Friday's gains in Seoul reflected that linkage playing out in reverse, as reduced expectations for further tightening supported risk appetite in export-heavy Asian markets.

In Seoul, most large-capitalization stocks were trading higher.

Chip giant Samsung Electronics, South Korea's largest company by market value and the world's leading memory-chip maker, rose 1.8 percent, while rival SK hynix added 2.32 percent. Semiconductors are South Korea's largest export category, so the sector's moves often serve as a bellwether for broader sentiment on the global technology cycle.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor was up 1.17 percent, battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 1.92 percent, and defense company Hanwha Aerospace advanced 1.34 percent.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,356.7 won against the U.S. dollar, up 0.8 won from the previous stock trading session, as of 9:16 a.m.

The KOSPI is the main stock index of South Korea's securities market, operated by the Korea Exchange, and semiconductor stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix typically carry heavy weight in the index's daily movements. Market participants are likely to keep watching upcoming U.S. economic data and further comments from Fed officials for additional signals on the rate path, given how sensitive Korean equities and the currency have been to shifts in those expectations.

Source: The Korea Times