Seoul shares open slightly higher on US gains

South Korean stocks inched up Monday, as investor sentiment was soothed by gains in U.S. equity markets, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 4.73 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,001.71 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Tech bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.78 percent on the back of its brisk earnings outlook. The electronics arm of Samsung Group unveiled on Friday its third-quarter earnings estimate after posting a record quarterly operating profit of 10.1 trillion won (US$9.43 billion) for the July-September period. U.S. stocks gained ground Friday, shrugging off concerns over negative impact from U.S. government's temporary shutdown. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.51 percent, and tech-laden Nasdaq composite index gained 0.89 percent. The Korean won was trading at 1,070.40 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 0.1 won from Friday's close.