Losing Streak May Continue For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Tuesday's holiday for Liberation Day, the South Korea stock market had moved lower in three straight sessions, slipping almost 35 points or 1.4 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,570-point plateau and it may tick lower again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns about economic outlook and expectations for interest rates. The Eruopean and U.S. markets were solidly lower and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the technology stocks, industrials, chemicals and oil companies.

For the day, the index sank 20.39 points or 0.79 percent to finish at 2,570.87. Volume was 613.21 million shares worth 9.83 trillion won. There were 601 decliners and 288 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.43 percent, while Hana Financial rose 0.26 percent, Samsung Electronics slipped 0.30 percent, Samsung SDI plummeted 3.63 percent, LG Electronics slumped 2.22 percent, SK Hynix fell 0.35 percent, Naver lost 0.45 percent, LG Chem plunged 4.02 percent, Lotte Chemical tanked 2.77 percent, S-Oil skidded 1.03 percent, SK Innovation declined 3.31 percent, SK Telecom advanced 0,96 percent, KEPCO retreated 1.69 percent, Hyundai Motor dropped 0.89 percent, Kia Motors tumbled 1.99 percent and POSCO, KB Financial and Hyundai Mobis were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened sharply lower on Tuesday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow tumbled 361.24 points or 1.02 percent to finish at 34,946.39, while the NASDAQ slumped 157.28 points or 1.14 percent to close at 13,631.05 and the S&P 500 sank 51.86 points or 1.16 percent to end at 4,437.86.

Worries about the health of the Chinese economy, and concerns that the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates higher for a longer time to contain inflation weigh on sentiment.

A warning from Fitch that it may have to downgrade credit ratings of several banks, including JP Morgan, is hurting as well.

Oil prices fell sharply Tuesday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand following a batch of weak economic data from China. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September sank $1.52 or 1.8 percent at $80.99 a barrel.