An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Monday. (Yonhap)
An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Monday. (Yonhap)

Seoul shares started higher Monday as investor sentiment was boosted by lower-than-expected inflation data from the United States for November.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 18.72 points, or 0.78 percent, to 2,422.87 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The US commerce department said personal consumption expenditure rose 2.4 percent on-year in November, coming in below market expectations.

The data came after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell last week suggested two additional rate cuts next year, two fewer than what the Fed had projected three months ago.

In Seoul, top tech giant Samsung Electronics rose 0.94 percent and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix climbed 1.19 percent.

Leading carmaker Hyundai Motor rose 2.14 percent and its sister Kia gained 0.1 percent. Auto parts giant Hyundai Mobis, on the other hand, shed 0.2 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,447.7 won against the greenback at 9:15 a.m., up 3.7 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)