Seoul shares opened higher Wednesday on institutional buying, with investors staying watchful on whether the US Federal Reserve will slash key rates this year.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 3.65 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,738.01 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, US stocks ended nearly flat. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.08 percent at 38,884.26, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.1 percent to 16,332.56.

Institutions and individuals bought a combined 43.46 billion won ($32 million) worth of stocks, offsetting foreigners' stock selling valued at 36.53 billion won.

In Seoul, large-cap stocks were mixed.

No. 2 carmaker Kia Corp. rose 0.4 percent, national flag carrier Korean Air Co. climbed 0.5 percent, leading battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. gained 0.4 percent, and leading shipping firm HMM was up 3.2 percent.

Among decliners, market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. fell 0.4 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. declined 0.7 percent, leading steelmaker Posco Holdings shed 0.5 percent, and leading refiner SK Innovation Co. was down 0.1 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,361.35 won against the US dollar, down 1.25 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)