Seoul, May 22 (IANS) South Korean stocks opened slightly higher on 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, reports Yonhap news agency.

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, artificial intelligence investment firm SK Square was up 0.76 percent, and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution gained 2.62 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,507.4 won against the U.S. dollar at 9:15 a.m., down 1.3 won from the previous session.

Meanwhile, the average income of South Korea’s farming households increased to the largest-ever level last year on the back of a sharp rise in earnings from livestock, government data showed on Friday.

The total came to 54.66 million won (US$36,200), up 8 percent from the previous year, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Data and Statistics.

The rise was mainly driven by the 28.5 percent income increase from livestock, and a 22.3 percent gain from the farming sector.

—IANS

na/