South Korea Shares May Open Under Pressure Again On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Monday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 120 points or 5 percent. The KOSPI market now rests just above the 2,590-point plateau and it's expected to open under water again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on fading hopes that the FOMC will trim interest rates at next month's meeting. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower Monday on profit taking, especially among the financials and technology stocks.

For the day, the index sank 24.00 points or 0.92 percent to finish at 2,591.31 after trading between 2,562.50 and 2,612.77. Volume was 500.2 million shares worth 12.1 trillion won. There were 459 decliners and 434 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial plunged 5.74 percent, while KB Financial tanked5.43 percent, Hana Financial declined 1.25 percent, Samsung Electronics retreated 1.20 percent, Samsung SDI slumped 1.53 percent, LG Electronics was down 0.21 percent, SK Hynix tumbled 1.93 percent, Naver plummeted 6.09 percent, LG Chem climbed 1.30 percent, Lotte Chemical slid 0.38 percent, S-Oil rallied 1.45 percent, SK Innovation jumped 2.17 percent, POSCO fell 0.56 percent, SK Telecom rose 0.20 percent, KEPCO sank 0.74 percent, Hyundai Mobis eased 0.22 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 4.85 percent and Kia Motors dropped 1.00 percent.

The lead from Wall Street negative as the major averages opened lower on Monday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow tumbled 274.30 points or 0.71 percent to finish at 38,380.12, while the NASDAQ shed 31.28 points or 0.20 percent to end at 15,597.68 and the S&P 500 slipped 15.80 points or 0.32 percent to close at 4,942.81.

The early weakness on Wall Street came as some traders looked to cash in on last week's rally amid fading optimism about the likelihood the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in March.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated the central bank is unlikely to cut interest rates next month during an interview over the weekend. Powell suggested the strength of the U.S. economy even amidst elevated rates will allow the Fed to proceed carefully.

Stocks fell to their lows of the session as the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing U.S. service sector growth accelerated by more than expected in January, further dampening hopes for a rate cut.

Oil futures settled higher on Monday as concerns about trade and supply disruptions outweighed a firm dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March settled lower by $0.50 or 0.7 percent a barrel at $72.78 a barrel.