KOSPI falls as high US Treasury yields overshadow AI optimism

The KOSPI ended lower Tuesday, as heavy institutional selling and renewed concerns over high U.S. Treasury yields erased a chip-driven rally. According to the Korea Exchange, the benchmark KOSPI closed at 6,869.83, down 1.55 percent from the previous session. The index opened 2.15 percent higher and briefly surpassed the 7,200 mark on optimism over artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor stocks, but gave up all of its gains and fell below 7,000 amid heavy institutional selling. Foreign and retail investors net purchased 86.5 billion won ($61.21 million) and 731 billion won, respectively. Institutional investors dumped 785.4 billion won. SK hynix rose 1.03 percent to close at 1,662,000 won, while Samsung Electronics lost 2.19 percent to finish at 268,500 won. U.S. stocks closed lower overnight, with all three major indexes falling amid heightened geopolitical tensions between Iran and the U.S. and a surge in the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield to 4.726 percent. While the Dow Jones and Nasdaq indexes declined, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index gained 1.6 percent after Anthro