Stocks open flat amid Israel-Hamas war, rate hike woes

Screens in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul show the Kospi closing at 2,383.51 points on Tuesday, up 1.12 percent, or 26.49 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Stocks opened flat Monday amid geopolitical tensions and expectations of continued U.S. Federal Reserve rate hike woes.

The benchmark Kospi lost 1.75 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,373.25 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

All three major U.S. indexes closed sharply lower Friday amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and expectations that the Fed will keep its key rates higher for longer.

In Seoul, market bellwether Samsung Electronics added 0.29 percent, and the country's No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix gained 0.4 percent.

Auto shares also started in positive terrain, with Hyundai Motor up 0.71 percent and its smaller affiliate Kia up 1.22 percent.

But battery shares started weak, with industry leader LG Energy Solution down 0.23 percent and its rival Samsung SDI down 1.56 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,351.80 won against the U.S. dollar at 9:15 a.m., up 0.6 won from the previous session's close.

BY PARK EUN-JEE, YONHAP [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]