Tech Shares Figure To Weigh On South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Monday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped almost 60 points or 2.7 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,340-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft ahead of quarterly earnings and on renewed pandemic concerns. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the financials and oil and chemical companies, while the technology stocks were mixed and the automobile producers offered support.

For the day, the index lost 10.34 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 2,340.27 after trading between 2,337.82 and 2,363.26. Volume was 369 million shares worth 6.1 trillion won. There were 569 decliners and 295 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial declined 1.10 percent, while KB Financial fell 0.32 percent, Hana Financial tumbled 1.75 percent, Samsung Electronics rose 0.17 percent, LG Electronics slumped 0.76 percent, SK Hynix skidded 1.16 percent, Naver plunged 3.41 percent, LG Chem tanked 3.33 percent, Lotte Chemical plummeted 3.89 percent, S-Oil sank 0.65 percent, SK Innovation retreated 1.75 percent, POSCO shed 0.43 percent, SK Telecom jumped 1.85 percent, KEPCO stumbled 1.80 percent, Hyundai Motor added 0.56 percent and Kia Motors accelerated 1.56 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened firmly lower on Monday and largely remained that way throughout the session.

The Dow sank 164.31 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 31.173.84, while the NASDAQ plummeted 262.71 points or 2.26 percent to finish at 11,372.60 and the S&P 500 dropped 44.95 points or 1.15 percent to end at 3,854.43.

Renewed Covid concerns contributed to the weakness on Wall Street as Shanghai reported its first case of the highly infectious BA.5 omicron sub-variant, raising fears of more lockdowns.

Macau also closed all its casinos for the first time in over two years on Monday after a coronavirus outbreak in the world's biggest gambling hub.

Light trading activity may have exaggerated the downward move, as some traders stuck to the sidelines amid a lack of major U.S. economic data and corporate earnings.

Crude oil prices slipped Monday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand amid a surge in coronavirus cases in China, while the dollar's jump amid expectations of sharp interest rate hikes also weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $0.70 or 0.7 percent at $104.90 a barrel.