KOSPI Falls 1.5 Percent to 6,528 in Early Trade as Oil and Middle East Tension Hit Tech Shares

SEOUL — South Korean stocks opened lower Monday and were down about 1.5 percent by mid-morning, extending a slide that closed last week at a three-session low, as higher oil prices and fresh Middle East strikes outweighed gains on Wall Street.

The KOSPI was at 6,527.60 at 9:45 a.m., down 98.33 points, or 1.48 percent, from Thursday's close of 6,625.93. The exchange was shut Friday for a holiday. Yonhap reported that the index opened 0.72 percent lower and was at 6,542.21, down 1.26 percent, at 9:15 a.m. The move through 6,530 in the next half hour was still early-session trading, not a close.

Technology shares led the decline. Samsung Electronics was down 0.95 percent and SK Hynix 2.71 percent in the Yonhap snapshot. Hanwha Aerospace fell 2.13 percent and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries 4.04 percent. Hyundai Motor rose 1.46 percent. The won was quoted at 1,338.65 to the dollar, firmer by 3.35 won from the previous stock-session close.

The overnight lead was higher, not lower. The Dow rose 0.83 percent on Friday and the Nasdaq 0.64 percent. Oil advanced after renewed Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia's main airport over the weekend. Yonhap said a wider conflict could disrupt energy supplies, add to inflation and increase pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise rates. That is the account the open traded.

Last week's three sessions took the index from 7,003.74 on Oct. 2 to 6,625.93 on Oct. 8, a drop of 5.39 percent, with the market closed Oct. 5 and Oct. 9. Foreign investors sold about 6.34 trillion won over those three days and institutions about 2.34 trillion won. Retail bought a net 6.20 trillion won. Samsung fell 5.07 percent on the week to 262,000 won and SK Hynix 8.69 percent to 1,681,000 won. Monday's open is the first chance to trade that close against a higher oil price and a firmer U.S. tape.

A 1.5 percent drop by 9:45 a.m. is not the day's print. It is the continuation of a foreign-led sale of chip shares into a yield and energy story that did not pause for the holiday. The 6,527.60 mark will move. The reasons Yonhap listed for the open — oil, the airport strikes, and the inflation path they imply — are already in the price.