South Korean stocks open lower despite Wall Street gains as Iran diplomacy hopes weigh on oil

SEOUL, Sept. 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks opened lower Monday despite Wall Street's advance, as hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough in the Iran conflict pushed oil prices lower.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 40.16 points, or 0.47 percent, to 7,040.76 as of 9:15 a.m.

The KOSPI extended its winning streak to a fourth session Wednesday and was closed Thursday and Friday for the Chuseok holiday, South Korea's equivalent of Thanksgiving.

U.S. stocks ended higher on Friday (local time), 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 US$104 a barrel after reports that Iran had proposed a plan to end the conflict.

In Seoul, most market heavyweights traded mixed.

Top market cap Samsung Electronics went down 1.14 percent, and chip giant SK hynix lost 2.63 percent.

SK Square, the parent company of SK hynix, shed 3.36 percent.

In contrast, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, an electronics component affiliate of Samsung Electronics, increased 4.31 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,357.1 won against the U.S. dollar, down 0.1 won from the close of the previous stock trading session.