Losing Streak May Continue For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished lower in four straight sessions, slumping almost 140 points or 5.6 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,360-point plateau and it's likely to take further damage again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on weakness from the technology stocks and ahead of key U.S. inflation data later in the week. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Monday, with damage across the board as investors continued to fret over the political chaos that has gripped the country as President Yoon Suk Yeol may face another impeachment proceeding after the first one failed.

For the day, the index plummeted 67.58 points or 2.78 percent to finish at 2,360.58 after trading between 2,360.18 and 2,399.52. Volume was 583.08 million shares worth 9.84 trillion won. There were 865 decliners and 60 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial slumped 1.17 percent, while KB Financial stumbled 2.93 percent, Hana Financial plummeted 5.92 percent, Samsung Electronics retreated 1.29 percent, Samsung SDI tanked 4.77 percent, LG Electronics surrendered 2.23 percent, SK Hynix climbed 1.08 percent, Naver skidded 1.47 percent, LG Chem crashed 7.50 percent, Lotte Chemical stumbled 5.53 percent, SK Innovation plunged 4.47 percent, POSCO Holdings lost 4.52 percent, SK Telecom dropped 1.38 percent, KEPCO tumbled 1.65 percent, Hyundai Mobis rallied 2.53 percent, Hyundai Motor declined 1.23 percent and Kia Motors dropped 2.95 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened mixed on Monday but quickly fell into the red and stayed that way for the balance of the session.

The Dow dropped 240.59 points or 0.54 percent to finish at 44,401.93, while the NASDAQ slumped 123.0.8 points or 0.62 percent to end at 19,736.69 and the S&P 500 sank 37.42 points or 0.61 percent to close at 6,052.85.

A slump by shares of Nvidia (NVDA) weighed on the markets, with the AI darling tumbling by 2.6 percent amid news a Chinese regulator has launched an investigation into whether the chipmaker violated antimonopoly laws.

The weakness on Wall Street also came as traders looked ahead to the release of closely watched U.S. inflation data later in the week.

While the Federal Reserve is widely expected to lower rates by another 25 basis points next week, there is some uncertainty about whether the central bank will continue cutting rates next year.

Oil prices climbed higher on geopolitical tensions and optimism that the Chinese central bank will loosen its monetary policy to boost economic growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January closed up $1.17 or 1.74 percent at $68.37 a barrel.