Seoul stocks open sharply higher despite faltering hopes for U.S.-Iran peace talks

SEOUL, April 27 (Yonhap) — Seoul stocks opened sharply higher Monday despite hopes of a breakthrough between the United States and Iran faltering further over the weekend.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 69.95 points, or 1.08 percent, to 6,545.58 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Soon after the market’s opening, the index once hit a fresh intraday record of 6,557.78 points.

On Friday stock indexes on Wall Street closed mixed, as investors pinned hopes that peace talks between the U.S. and Iran will make progress during the Iranian foreign minister’s second visit to Pakistan last week.

But such hopes dampened after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had canceled U.S. negotiators’ trip to Pakistan scheduled during the weekend.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is headed for Russia, according to Iran state media, and is expected to meet with President Vladimir Putin on Monday.

Also over the weekend, a gunman opened fire near a security checkpoint at the correspondents’ dinner event at the White House, and President Trump was evacuated from the event.

But the series of events has not rattled the financial markets, said Lee Kyoung-soo, an analyst from Hana Securities, as investors have now turned their focus to policy decisions from central banks in major economies and the upcoming earnings release from big tech companies, including Microsoft, Apple and Meta.

Investors are also closely watching the upcoming earnings season from local companies, Lee added.

In Seoul, most large-cap shares traded higher.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics added 0.91 percent, while its chipmaking rival SK hynix rose 4.83 percent.

Top carmaker Hyundai Motor moved up 0.78 percent, and shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries advanced 1.79 percent, while defense giant Hanwha Aerospace inched down 0.68 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,477 won against the U.S. dollar, up 7.5 won from the previous session.