Seoul stocks open sharply lower on chip rout, escalating Iran tensions

Seoul stocks opened sharply lower Monday, led by declines in major semiconductor makers, amid the escalating Middle East tensions.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) opened 177.02 points, or 2.6 percent lower, at 6,643.58.

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. ...