Seoul stocks open lower on chip rout, escalating Iran tensions

Seoul stocks opened lower Monday, led by declines in major semiconductor makers, amid the 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 (AI) 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, a day after the Pentagon announced the fatalities of two service members in Jordan.

The death of the soldier, who was killed while disposing of a downed Iranian drone, came amid a weekend of back-and-forth attacks between Iran and the United States.

In Seoul, most stocks were trading lower, while semiconductors gathered ground.

Market top-cap Samsung Electronics inched up 0.39 percent, while its rival SK hynix added 1.79 percent.

In contrast, top carmaker Hyundai Motor fell 4 percent, battery maker LG Energy Solution shed 2.54 percent, and defense giant Hanw ...