Seoul shares ended higher Monday, following US stocks' rally last week, with investors staying cautious about the Federal Reserve's further rate hikes to tame inflation. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index went up 12.27 points, or 0.49 percent, to 2,513.21.

Trading volume was moderate at 645.61 million shares worth 9.06 trillion won ($6.8 billion), with gainers outnumbering decliners 571 to 301.

Institutions and foreigners bought a combined 698 billion won worth of stocks, offsetting individuals' stock selling valued at 694 billion won.

On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.7 percent to 33,674.38 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 2.2 percent to 12,235.41.

Strong US jobs data and Apple's higher-than-expected earnings results pushed up US stocks, reviving investors' appetite for risky assets, analysts said.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday after its policy meeting that it is too soon to say the rate hike cycle is over as the Fed believes inflation remains too high.

The US central bank raised interest rates by 0.25 percentage point to a range of 5-5.25 percent, the 10th consecutive hike since March 2022.

In Seoul, tech and auto stocks led gains.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. rose 1.2 percent to 65,900 won, leading home appliance maker LG Electronics Inc. climbed 2.8 percent to 112,300 won, top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. gained 1.7 percent to 202,500 won, and leading refiner SK Innovation Co. jumped 3.4 percent to 185,000 won.

Among decliners, leading budget carrier Jeju Air Co. fell 0.2 percent to 14,110 won, No. 1 steelmaker Posco Holdings declined 3 percent to 367,500 won, and car battery maker LG Energy Solution shed 1 percent to 558,000 won.

The local currency ended at 1,321.4 won against the US dollar, up 1.4 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)