KOSPI slides as U.S. 10-year yield breaches 5% and oil prices climb

On Tuesday the benchmark KOSPI ended at 6,627.26, down 0.85% from the prior session, as concerns over a strengthening U.S. 10-year Treasury yield—reaching 5.02%—and higher Brent crude, which rose to $107.35 per barrel, outweighed earlier semiconductor buying. Foreign investors extended their sell-off to a fifth straight day, dumping a net 1.57 trillion won, while institutional investors sold 904.4 billion won; retail investors, however, bought a net 832.4 billion won.

Semiconductor giants SK hynix and Samsung Electronics each slipped slightly, and large-cap stocks faced added pressure, with shipbuilders Samsung Heavy Industries, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries falling 6.33%, 6.74% and 5.32% respectively. Defense firms Hanwha Aerospace and Hanwha Systems also declined, whereas battery producers Samsung SDI and LG Energy Solution rose 2.82% and 3.98%. The won weakened to 1,359.4 per dollar, and BlackRock upgraded its Korean equity outlook to overweight.