South Korean stocks opened higher Monday, led by big-cap tech and auto shares, as talks for the United States' debt ceiling deal were to resume soon.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 9.18 points, or 0.36 percent, to 2,546.97 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

US President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are scheduled to meet Monday to seek a breakthrough regarding their debt ceiling negotiations, according to foreign media reports.

On Friday, the negotiations fell through, raising doubt of a deal being reached soon and causing US shares to lose ground.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.33 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.24 percent.

In Seoul, tech and auto shares started higher.

Tech heavyweight Samsung Electronics rose 0.29 percent, and chip giant SK hynix advanced 0.72 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor climbed 0.73 percent, and Kia grew 0.23 percent.

Leading battery makers LG Energy Solution and Samsung SDI remained flat, while LG Chem shed 0.14 percent.

Leading internet portal operator Naver shed 0.69 percent, and Kakao inched down 0.17 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,321.40 won against the US dollar at 9:15 a.m., up 5.3 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)