South Korea's KOSPI fell in early trading on the 11th as weaker U.S. semiconductor shares, higher oil prices and rising U.S. Treasury yields pressured risk appetite. By 10:05 a.m., the index stood at 6,242.28, down 57.38 points, or 0.91%, after opening at 6,240.06, off 59.60 points, or 0.95%, according to the Korea Exchange. Individuals bought a net 212.9 billion won and foreign investors added a net 5.1 billion won, while institutions sold a net 206 billion won, led by financial investment firms with 233.6 billion won in net sales; pension funds bought a net 50.7 billion won. Large-cap shares were mostly lower, with SK hynix sliding 2.89%, Samsung Electro-Mechanics dropping 5.73% and SK Square losing 3.27%, while Samsung Electronics was unchanged and Samsung Biologics rose 2.36%. The move followed a softer Wall Street session in which Nvidia fell 2.86%, Micron lost about 1.8%, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 2.94% and Intel sank 4.06% after announcing a $15 billion rights offering (sale of new shares to raise capital) for artificial intelligence chip investment. Oil and bond yields also climbed as doubts grew over U.S.-Iran talks on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, sending West Texas Intermediate crude up 5.1% to $82.13 a barrel and pushing the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield above 4.7% ahead of this week's U.S. July consumer price index. Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said the market may see rotation across market caps and sectors as investors take short-term profits in recently strong small- and mid-cap names, while upside support for the KOSPI could still come from U.S. tech earnings and expectations for shareholder returns from domestic chip stocks.