Seoul stocks opened lower on Monday, led by declines in major semiconductor makers amid escalating Middle East tensions.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 35.41 points, or 0.52 percent, to 6,785.19 as of 9:19 a.m.
On Friday U.S. time, major U.S. stock indexes closed lower as concerns mounted over artificial intelligence sectors such as chipmaking. SanDisk and Micron led the decline, both falling by more than 8 percent.
On the Middle East front, another U.S. service member was killed in action in Iraq while disposing of a downed Iranian drone. This came a day after the Pentagon announced the fatalities of two service members in Jordan amid weekend attacks between Iran and the United States.
In Seoul, Samsung Electronics inched up 0.39 percent while SK hynix added 1.79 percent. Hyundai Motor fell 4 percent, LG Energy Solution shed 2.54 percent, and Hanwha Aerospace declined 3.92 percent. The Korean won traded at 1,487.8 won against the dollar, down 1.8 won.
