South Korean shares were little changed on Tuesday as gains in semiconductor stocks helped offset declines in other major sectors, while investors awaited domestic trade data and earnings from US chipmaker Micron Technology for fresh signals on demand for artificial-intelligence-related chips.
The benchmark KOSPI fell 5.34 points, or 0.08%, to 6,884.40 as of 0143 GMT.
Read more: Global Market Today: Asian shares mixed as surging oil, Treasury yields weigh
Semiconductor stocks provided some support to the broader market. Samsung Electronics gained 1.76%, while SK Hynix rose 0.51%. A Samsung executive said high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, is expected to account for nearly 30% of DRAM chipmakers' total wafer capacity next year, compared with about 20% currently, Reuters reported.
Investors are also awaiting South Korea's September trade data and Micron's earnings later this week for clues about the strength of AI-driven chip demand. South Korean exports are expected to rise for a 16th consecutive month in September, supported by strong semiconductor demand, although growth is forecast to slow because of fewer working days, according to a poll.
Read more: US stocks: US market falls as higher oil prices, Treasury yields weigh
The broader market remained under pressure after US stocks declined overnight as higher oil prices and Treasury yields weighed on investor sentiment.
Several major non-chip stocks fell. Battery maker LG Energy Solution dropped 3.16%, while Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp declined 1.55% and 2.47%, respectively. POSCO Holdings lost 3%, and Samsung BioLogics fell 2.36%.
Market breadth was weak, with 702 of the 907 traded stocks declining, compared with 162 gainers. Foreign investors were net sellers of shares worth 941.8 billion won ($692.50 million).
In the currency market, the won weakened 0.04% to 1,360.4 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, compared with 1,359.9 at the previous close.
Korean government bond yields edged lower. The three-year Treasury yield fell 1.6 basis points to 4.094%, while the benchmark 10-year yield declined 2.2 basis points to 4.522%.
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