US Treasury Yield Shock Crosses the Pacific, Kospi Sinks 2.72%

Kospi slid 2.72% and Kosdaq dropped 1.87% today, both bowing their heads together. Overnight in the US, inflation data came in hotter than expected and news of Trump's cash handouts piled on, sending Treasury yields jumping — the 30-year hit its highest level since 2007 — and that mood crossed the Pacific and weighed on our market today. Foreigners dumped over 2.6 trillion won worth of Kospi names, and institutions tried to catch it with about 574 billion won in buying, but that wasn't nearly enough. On Kosdaq, foreigners sold more than a trillion won too, but institutions stepped in with nearly 1.4 trillion won in buying, which is likely why the drop there got cushioned to 1.87%. Sector-wise, copper and mineral names along with semiconductors actually held up, while defensive names like staples and healthcare got hit even harder — which tells me today's selling looked less like panic-driven flight and more like the market digesting the weight of US rate pressure. What bothers me is that while the surface looked calm, the real economy indicators seem to be losing steam underneath — so today I didn't put anything on, I just watched.