South Korean stocks hit a one-month intraday high Tuesday but closed down over 1%, ending a five-day winning streak as government bond yields surged. The most liquid 3-year Korean government bond yield rose 8.5bps to 3.854%; the 10-year yield climbed 9.5bps to 4.395%. Semiconductor names outperformed early after the Philadelphia semiconductor index rose 1.6% overnight, but gains narrowed: Samsung Electronics reversed an intraday high of +4.9% to close down 2.19%, while SK Hynix closed up 1.03% a

2026-08-18

South Korean stocks hit a one-month intraday high Tuesday but closed down over 1%, ending a five-day winning streak as government bond yields surged. The most liquid 3-year Korean government bond yield rose 8.5bps to 3.854%; the 10-year yield climbed 9.5bps to 4.395%. Semiconductor names outperformed early after the Philadelphia semiconductor index rose 1.6% overnight, but gains narrowed: Samsung Electronics reversed an intraday high of +4.9% to close down 2.19%, while SK Hynix closed up 1.03% after an intraday high of +8.9%. Analyst Seo Sang-young said early foreign inflows became unstable as rising yields destabilized fund flows and market sentiment.