Seoul shares open sharply higher on tech gains despite heightened Middle East tensions

Seoul's stock market opened sharply higher on Monday, buoyed by strong gains in technology shares, despite rising military tensions in the Middle East. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) surged 223.57 points, or 3.34%, to reach 6,910.78 at the opening bell. Tensions escalated between the United States and Iran, with Tehran launching attacks on oil tankers and U.S.-linked vessels in retaliation for recent U.S. strikes on Iranian targets.

Meanwhile, U.S. stocks had recently declined following strong job data, which prompted speculation of potential interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.51%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.29%. However, the PHLX semiconductor index saw a notable rise of 3.38% following the unveiling of OpenAI's new GPT-6 Astra, a technology anticipated to spur demand for memory chips.