Stocks drop 0.53% as U.S. Treasuries suggest trouble ahead

Stocks retreated Tuesday as investors attempted to lock in gains from the recent tech rally.

A screen at Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,997.33 points on Tuesday, down 15.92 points, or 0.53 percent, from the previous trading day. [YONHAP]

Stocks retreated Tuesday as investors attempted to lock in gains from the recent tech rally. The won fell against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi lost 15.92 points, or 0.53 percent, to close at 2,997.33 points.

Trading volume was moderate at about 516 million shares worth some 10.7 trillion won ($9 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 499 to 361.

Foreigners bought a net 282 billion won and retail investors purchased 380 billion won, while institutions sold a net 696 billion won.

"The overnight jump in the 10-year treasury yields in the United States seems to have driven investors to sell local stocks with high price-to-earnings ratio," said Mirae Asset Securities analyst Park Gwang-nam.

Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 1.26 percent amid lingering inflation concerns. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.05 percent.

In Seoul, Samsung Electronics added 0.53 percent to 75,300 won, but chipmaker SK hynix decreased 0.42 percent to 119,000 won.

Internet portal operator Naver declined 2.44 percent to 400,000 won, and Kakao fell 3.11 percent to 124,500 won.

LG Chem slumped 3.27 percent to 740,000 won, and battery maker SK Innovation closed the same at 219,500 won.

Production company J Contentree slumped 10.31 percent to 58,300 won despite its sub-subsidiary Climax Studio's success with Netflix's "Hellbound," and CJ ENM's Studio Dragon lost 1.31 percent to 90,500 won.

Pharmaceutical firm Samsung Biologics dropped 2.4 percent to 855,000 won, and Celltrion tumbled 6 percent to 211,500 won.

Automaker Hyundai Motor moved down 1.6 percent to 215,000 won, and its sister company Kia dropped 2.33 percent to 83,700 won.

Game publisher NCSoft lost 5.35 percent to 708,000 won.

The Kosdaq fell 18.59 points, or 1.8 percent, to close at 1,013.72.

The local currency closed at 1,189.7 won against the dollar, up 4.6 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year government bonds added 1.5 basis points to 2.032 percent, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond gained 8.1 basis points to 1.62 percent.

BY LEE TAE-HEE, YONHAP [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]