Losing Streak May Continue For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished lower in four straight sessions, sinking more than 110 points or 4.8 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,220-point plateau and it's tipped to open under pressure again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower thanks to rising recession fears. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Tuesday as losses from the technology, oil and chemical companies were mitigated by support from the financial shares and automobile producers.

For the day, the index shed 6.99 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 2,218.68 after trading between 2,180.67 and 2,230.98. Volume was 403.6 million shares worth 6.03 trillion won. There were 523 decliners and 343 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 2.04 percent, while KB Financial surged 3.05 percent, Hana Financial soared 2.21 percent, Samsung Electronics eased 0.18 percent, LG Electronics sank 0.81 percent, SK Hynix dipped 0.13 percent, Naver slumped 0.56 percent, LG Chem shed 0.50 percent, Lotte Chemical fell 0.28 percent, S-Oil tanked 2.05 percent, SK Innovation plunged 2.90 percent, SK Telecom lost 0.63 percent, KEPCO improved 0.78 percent, Hyundai Mobis slid 0.25 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 1.27 percent, Kia Motors jumped 1.46 percent and POSCO was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages shook off early support on Tuesday, quickly turning lower and spending the rest of the day in the red.

The Dow shed 1088 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 33,136.37, while the NASDAQ lost 79.50 points or 0.76 percent to end at 10,386.98 and the S&P 500 fell 15.36 points or 0.40 percent to close at 3,824.14.

The early strength on Wall Street came as traders looked to get the New Year started on a positive note following a dismal 2022. For last year, the NASDAQ plummeted 33.1 percent, the S&P 500 lost 19.4 percent and the Dow sank 8.8 percent.

A report from the International Monetary Fund says about one third of the world economy will likely go into a recession this year. A rebound from treasuries also added to the negative sentiment.

A report released by the Commerce Department unexpectedly showed a modest increase in U.S. construction spending in the month of November.

Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand due to rising fears of a recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended down $3.33 or 4.2 percent at $76.93 a barrel, a two-week low.