South Korean shares fall as Nvidia-supplier SK Hynix drags

SEOUL, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korean shares fell on Thursday, dragged by losses in chipmaker SK Hynix, a main supplier for Nvidia, while declines in biopharmaceutical firms also weighed on sentiment.

The benchmark KOSPI .KS11 was down 15.43 points, or 0.58%, at 2,625.66, as of 0104 GMT.

SK Hynix 000660.KS lost 1.23%, after choppy trading in Nvidia NVDA.O shares in extended hours. The U.S. artificial intelligence firm forecast a strong earnings growth in the first quarter.

Among index heavyweights, Samsung Biologics 207940.KS fell 1.20% and biopharmaceutical peer Celltrion 068270.KS dropped 3.65%, while other sectors were mixed.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday raised hopes for another month-long pause on steep new tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, and floated a 25% "reciprocal" tariff on European cars and other goods.

Hyundai Motor 005380.KS dropped 2%, while sister automaker Kia Corp 000270.KS rose 0.3%. Battery maker LG Energy Solution 373220.KS fell 1.1% but steelmaker POSCO Holdings 005490.KS rose 0.2%.

Of the total 938 traded issues, 310 shares advanced, while 547 declined.

Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 231.0 billion won ($160.84 million).

The won was quoted at 1,436.6 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform KRW=KFTC, 0.19% lower than its previous close at 1,433.8.

In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds KTBc1 rose 0.04 point to 106.84.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield KR3YT=RR fell by 0.5 basis points to 2.583%, while the benchmark 10-year yield KR10YT=RR fell by 0.7 basis points to 2.739%.

($1 = 1,436.2000 won)