South Korea Stock Market May Open In The Red Again On Monday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Friday wrote a finish to the two-day winning streak in which it had climbed almost 40 points or 1.5 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,675-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is brutal on concerns of an economic slowdown in the United States. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Friday with damage across the board, especially among the financials, industrials and technology stocks.

For the day, the index plunged 101.49 points or 3.65 percent to finish at 2,676.19 after trading between 2,666.40 and 2,725.05. Volume was 523.78 million shares worth 12.87 trillion won. There were 868 decliners and 58 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial plummeted 5.93 percent, while KB Financial plunged 5.78 percent, Hana Financial stumbled 3.88 percent, Samsung Electronics declined 4.21 percent, Samsung SDI gained 0.75 percent, LG Electronics lost 4.44 percent, SK Hynix crashed 10.40 percent, Naver slumped 2.06 percent, LG Chem sank 1.75 percent, Lotte Chemical and POSCO both dropped 1.66 percent, S-Oil improved 0.74 percent, SK Innovation retreated 2.71 percent, SK Telecom advanced 0.93 percent, KEPCO surrendered 2.48 percent, Hyundai Mobis fell 0.91 percent, Hyundai Motor tanked 3.75 percent and Kia Motors shed 4.46 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened sharply lower on Friday and remained well under water throughout the trading day.

The Dow plummeted 610.74 points or 1.51 percent to finish at 39,737.26, while the NASDAQ tumbled 417.94 points or 2.43 percent to close at 16,776.16 and the S&P dropped 100.12 points or 1.84 percent to end at 5,346.56. For the week, the NASDAQ plummeted 3.4 percent, and the S&P 500 and the Dow both shed 2.1 percent.

Concerns about the outlook for the U.S. economy continued to weigh on Wall Street following the release of a closely watched Labor Department report showing employment increased by much less than expected in the month of July.

While weaker than expected economic data has been a positive for the markets amid expectations it would convince the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, traders are concerned the Fed has waited too long and could spur a U.S. recession.

Negative sentiment was also generated in reaction to the latest earnings news, with companies like Intel (INTC) and online retail giant Amazon (AMZN) leading the way lower.

Crude oil prices fell sharply to a two-month low on Friday, sliding for a second successive session on rising concerns about the outlook for demand due to slowing growth in the U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September fell $2.79 or 3.66 percent at $73.52 a barrel.