South Korean shares turn lower as chipmakers fall ahead of earnings

SAMSUNG BIOLOGICS

27/07/2026 03:06

KOSPI falls, foreigners net sellers
Korean won weakens against dollar
South Korea benchmark bond yield falls
SEOUL, July 27 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean shares turned lower on Monday, as chipmakers fell ahead of second-quarter earnings releases amid AI-related worries. 
** The benchmark KOSPI .KS11 was down 50.65 points, or 0.76%, at 6,639.97 as of 0148 GMT, after starting the session higher to rise as much as 1.7%. 
** Chipmaker Samsung Electronics 005930.KS slipped 0.20% and peer SK Hynix 000660.KS lost 0.97%, erasing early gains. Both companies are scheduled to release their second-quarter results later this week. 
** South Korea announced $950 billion in new AI initiatives involving Samsung Electronics, SK Group and U.S. tech firms on Saturday as global AI leaders rush to fill a shortage of faster chips to power and develop more advanced systems.
** E-commerce firm Naver 035420.KS jumped 8.67% on U.S. chipmaker Nvidia's NVDA.O acquisition of shares worth $1 billion in the company as part of an investment partnership to build a new data centre.
** Battery maker LG Energy Solution 373220.KS climbed 0.30%, while Hyundai Motor 005380.KS and sister automaker Kia Corp 000270.KS were down 0.37% and 1.15%, respectively.
** Steelmaker POSCO Holdings 005490.KS added 1.60%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics 207940.KS rose 1.78%.
** Of the total 915 traded issues, 504 shares advanced, while 368 declined.
** Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 1.5 trillion won ($1.02 billion). 
** The won was quoted at 1,465.0 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform KRW=KFTC, 0.44% lower than its previous close at 1,458.5.
   ** In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year treasury bonds KTBc1 gained 0.21 point to 102.81.
** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield KR3YT=RR fell by 7.4 basis points to 3.889%, while the benchmark 10-year yield KR10YT=RR fell by 8.6 basis points to 4.368%.

($1 = 1,465.4000 won)

 (Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar)
 ((jihoon.lee@thomsonreuters.com;))