Tech Shares May Drag South Korea Lower On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, sinking almost 75 points or 2.4 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 3,150-point plateau and it may take further damage again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak, with oil and technology stocks likely to weigh on the markets. The European markets were up and the Asian bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Tuesday as losses from the technology stocks were mitigated by support from the industrials and chemicals, while the financial sector came in mixed.

For the day, the index shed 25.72 points or 0.81 percent to finish at 3,151.56. Volume was 281.47 million shares worth 8.54 trillion won. There were 610 decliners and 270 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial sank 0.81 percent, while KB Financial rallied 2.05 percent, Hana Financial fell 0.36 percent, Samsung SDI added 0.68 percent, LG Electronics shed 0.39 percent, SK Hynix tumbled 1.68 percent, Naver dipped 0.22 percent, Lotte Chemical and LG Chem both jumped 1.31 percent, SK Innovation rose 0.38 percent, POSCO Holdings perked 0.17 percent, SK Telecom eased 0.18 percent, KEPCO plummeted 5.32 percent, Hyundai Mobis soared 3.42 percent, Hyundai Motor climbed 1.15 percent, Kia Motors accelerated 1.76 percent and Samsung Electronics was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and spent most of the day in the red, although the Dow peeked up above the line at the end.

The Dow rose 10.45 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 44,922.27, while the NASDAQ tumbled 314.82 points or 1.46 percent to end at 21,314.95 and the S&P 500 sank 37.78 points or 0.59 percent to close at 6,411.37.

The slump by the NASDAQ came amid weakness in the tech sector, with shares of Nvidia (NVDA) plunging by 3.5 percent following reports that the company is developing a new AI chip for China.

On the other hand, the Dow benefitted from a surge by shares of Home Depot (HD), as the home improvement retailer shot up 3.2 percent after the company maintained its full-year guidance despite missing on Q2 results.

Traders were also looking ahead to the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting later today and the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium that gets underway on Thursday. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak at the symposium on Friday, with remarks potentially impacting the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil declined on Tuesday amid supply side concerns as OPEC continues to unwind 2.2 million barrels per day in voluntary cuts by its member nations. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $1.07 or 1.69 percent at $62.35 per barrel.