Seoul shares open tad higher on overnight Wall Street gains amid Iran hope

Korean stocks opened slightly higher Friday following the previous session's sharp rise, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street amid rising hopes for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict between the United States and Iran.

After starting 0.74 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) trimmed earlier gains to edge up 2.71 points, or 0.03 percent, to 7,818,3 as of 9:15 a.m. Overnight, U.S. stocks advanced after Iran said the latest proposal from the U.S. partly bridged the gap between the warring sides, raising hopes that the three-month war may end soon with a peace deal.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6 percent.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 0.1 percent.

Most market heavyweights in Seoul traded mixed.

Top-cap Samsung Electronics started 1.34 percent lower after surging the previous day, while its chipmaking rival SK hynix lost 2.29 percent.

Automobile shares were also among the losers.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor shed 2.55 percent, and its smaller affiliate Kia declined 1.61 percent.

In contrast, artific