Seoul shares opened higher Thursday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, as US inflation slowed to a two-year low, easing concerns that the US Federal Reserve will continue its aggressive rate hikes.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 17.92 points, or 0.70 percent, to 2,592.64 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.2 percent.

The US consumer price index, a key inflation gauge, rose 3 percent in June from a year earlier, the smallest increase since March 2021.

The sharp slowdown in US inflation is increasing chances that the US central bank is nearing the end of its aggressive monetary tightening policy, analysts said.

In Seoul, tech, auto and energy stocks led gains.

Market behemoth Samsung Electronics Co. rose 0.7 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. climbed 1.2 percent, top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. gained 0.5 percent, and LG Chem Ltd. was up 2.5 percent.

Among decliners, national flag carrier Korean Air Co. fell 0.4 percent, leading tiremaker Hankook Tire & Technology Co. declined 0.8 percent, and the country's sole aircraft manufacturer Korea Aerospace Industries Co. shed 1.1 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,279.25 won against the US dollar at 9:15 a.m., up 9.45 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)