Kospi opens slightly lower despite Wall Street gains

Stocks opened lower on Monday despite Wall Street’s advance, as hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough in the Iran conflict pushed oil prices lower.

The benchmark Kospi fell 23.06 points, or 0.33 percent, to 7,057.86 in the first minutes of trading.

The Kospi extended its winning streak to a fourth session on Wednesday and was closed on Thursday and Friday for the Chuseok holiday.

On Friday, U.S. stocks ended higher, with technology and industrial companies leading the gains.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.93 percent, the S&P 500 gained 0.51 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index advanced 0.48 percent.

Brent crude settled around $104 a barrel due to reports that Iran had proposed a plan to end the conflict.

Yonhap