S.Korea stocks slide as institutional sell-off weighs

    * KOSPI falls, foreigners net buyers
    * Korean won strengthens against U.S. dollar
    * South Korea benchmark bond yield falls

    SEOUL, April 6 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean
financial markets:
    
    ** South Korean shares fell on Tuesday, as a sell-off from
institutional investors offset recovery optimism on another
batch of strong U.S. economic data. The Korean won strengthened,
while the benchmark bond yield dropped.
    
    ** The benchmark KOSPI         was down 8.03 points, or
0.26%, at 3,112.80 by 0218 GMT, after rising as much as 0.59% in
early session. It closed 0.26% higher on Monday.
    
    ** Chip heavyweights Samsung Electronics             and SK
Hynix             fell as much as 0.35% and 1.05%, respectively,
while battery maker LG Chem             dropped 1.84%.
    
    ** Giant steelmaker POSCO             dropped 2.69%,
following a report that the company has begun reviewing how it
might end a joint venture with a firm controlled by the military
in Myanmar in the wake of the coup.             
    
    ** That dented the sentiment, which was buoyed after a
survey showed activity in the U.S. services industry reached its
highest level on record in March. The recovery momentum lifted
the S&P 500 and Dow indexes overnight to their records.
            
    
    ** Meanwhile, LG Electronics             shares gained 3.88%
a day after the company said it will wind down its loss-making
mobile division, as investors expect the announcement will raise
corporate value.             
    
    ** Foreigners were net buyers of 250.3 billion won ($222.61
million) worth of shares on the main board, while institutional
investors sold net 270.8 billion won shares.
    
    ** The won was quoted at 1,124.6 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform           , 0.28% higher than its previous
close at 1,127.7.
    
    ** In offshore trading, the won        was quoted at 1,124.5
per dollar, unchanged from the previous day, while in
non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract
              was quoted at 1,123.9.
        
    ** The most liquid 3-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by
2.1 basis points to 1.181%, while the benchmark 10-year yield
dropped 2.4 basis points to 2.070%.

    ($1 = 1,124.3900 won)

 (Reporting by Joori Roh)