Kospi Falls to 6,776.93 as US Yields Surge; Foreign, Institutional Investors Sell

South Korea’s Kospi fell in early trading on Oct. 8 as a sharp rise in US Treasury yields and selling by foreign and institutional investors weighed on sentiment. Samsung Electronics, which reported quarterly operating profit topping 100 trillion won for the first time, traded little changed.

As of 9:05 a.m., the Kospi was down 26.97 points, or 0.40%, at 6,776.93. Foreign and institutional investors were net sellers of 413.2 billion won and 115.5 billion won, respectively, while retail investors were net buyers of 505.5 billion won.

Overnight in the US, the 10-year Treasury yield climbed above 5.36% intraday, reaching its highest level since 2002. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.66%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq each lost 0.22%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 1.15%.

Before the market opened, Samsung Electronics announced preliminary third-quarter operating profit of 107.4 trillion won and revenue of 195 trillion won. That was up 782.5% and 126.6%, respectively, from a year earlier. The stock was up 0.09% at 268,750 won, while SK Hynix gained 0.52%.

LG Energy Solution fell 3.58%, Hyundai Motor lost 2.23%, and Samsung Biologics dropped 2.04%. Among semiconductor-related shares, SK Square and Samsung Electro-Mechanics slipped 0.44% and 0.19%, respectively, showing mixed moves within the sector.

The Kosdaq fell 10.42 points, or 1.16%, to 888.01. Foreign investors were net sellers of 111.8 billion won, while retail and institutional investors were net buyers of 102.5 billion won and 9.2 billion won, respectively. Alteogen tumbled 7.39%, and Rainbow Robotics fell 1.45%. EcoPro BM rose 1.85%, while Jusung Engineering added 1.62%.

At the same time, the won traded at 1,340.7 per dollar in Seoul, down 1.7 won from the previous session.