Soft Start Seen For South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Monday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had collected almost 40 points or 1.6 percent. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,660-point plateau and it may tick lower again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower ahead of inflation data that may affect the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

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

For the day, the index dropped 20.51 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 2,659.84 after trading between 2,658.74 and 2,677.21, Volume was 383 million shares worth 8.69 trillion won. There were 517 decliners and 353 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial shed 0.65 percent, while KB Financial dipped 0.28 percent, Hana Financial slid 0.34 percent, Samsung Electronics retreated 1.23 percent, Samsung SDI surrendered 2.93 percent, LG Electronics eased 0.10 percent, SK Hynix tanked 3.08 percent, Naver climbed1.01 percent, LG Chem stumbled 2.46 percent, Lotte Chemical retreated 1.23 percent, S-Oil improved 1.08 percent, SK Innovation sank 0.83 percent, POSCO declined 1.69 percent, SK Telecom lost 0.57 percent, Hyundai Mobis slumped 1.19 percent, Hyundai Motor plunged 3.75 percent, Kia Motors tumbled 1.71 percent and KEPCO was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened lower on Monday and largely stayed that way, although the Dow snuck barely above the line late in the day to finish slightly higher.

The Dow added 46.97 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 38,769.66, while the NASDAQ slumped 65.84 points or 0.41 percent to close at 16,019.27 and the S&P 500 dipped 5.75 points or 0.11 percent to end at 5,117.94.

The weakness on Wall Street came amid uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the release of key inflation data later today, when the Labor Department is scheduled to release its closely watched report on consumer price inflation for February.

The inflation data could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates, with Federal Reserve officials saying they need "greater confidence" that inflation is slowing before they consider cutting rates.

While the Fed is widely expected to leave rates unchanged at its monetary policy meeting next week, the data could impact expectations regarding when the central bank will eventually lower rates.

Oil futures settled lower on Monday amid concerns about the outlook for demand from China and on caution ahead key U.S. consumer price inflation data. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down $0.08 or 0.1 percent at $77.93 a barrel, settling lower for the third consecutive session.