Continued Consolidation Called For KOSPI

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the four-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 220 points or 5.5 percent. The KOSPI sits just above the 3,950-point plateau and it may take further damage on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on persistent concerns about an AI bubble. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses also figure to open to the downside.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Tuesday with damage across the board, especially among the financials, technology stocks and automobile producers.

For the day, the index plummeted 135.63 points or 3.32 percent to finish at 3,953.62 after trading between 3,953.26 and 4,072.41. Volume was 317.62 million shares worth 13.98 trillion won. There were 817 decliners and 83 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial retreated 2.30 percent, while KB Financial slumped 3.39 percent, Hana Financial declined 2.26 percent, Samsung Electronics stumbled 2.78 percent, Samsung SDI plunged 4.89 percent, LG Electronics contracted 4.16 percent, SK Hynix cratered 5.94 percent, Naver dropped 2.35 percent, LG Chem tumbled 3.48 percent, Lotte Chemical plummeted 4.62 percent, SK Innovation sank 5.19 percent, POSCO Holdings fell 0.64 percent, SK Telecom shed 1.68 percent, KEPCO added 0.41 percent, Hyundai Mobis lost 1.87 percent, Hyundai Motor crashed 2.58 percent and Kia Motors surrendered 2.47 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened in the red and remained under water throughout the trading day.

The Dow plunged 498.50 points or 1.07 percent to finish at 46,091.74, while the NASDAQ stumbled 275.23 points or 1.21 percent to close at 22,432.85 and the S&P 500 sank 55.09 points or 0.83 percent to end at 6,617.32.

Weakness among technology stocks continued to weigh on Wall Street amid an extended decline by market leader and AI darling Nvidia (NVDA) as traders look ahead to the release of the chipmaker's quarterly results later today.

The strength of Nvidia's results and its guidance could have a significant impact on the markets amid recent concerns about an AI bubble.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing a significant rebound by new orders for U.S. manufactured goods in the month of August.

Crude oil prices soared on Tuesday as the end of the U.S. government shutdown has accelerated expectations of brisk demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $0.90 or 1.49 percent at $60.80 per barrel.