Continued Consolidation Called For KOSPI

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Monday snapped the five-day winning streak in which it had spiked almost 115 points or 4.6 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,450-point plateau and it may take further damage on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation ahead of rate decisions this week from central banks in England and the United States. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were firmly in the red and the Asian markets figure to split the difference. The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Monday following profit taking among the financials, industrials and technology stocks. For the day, the index dropped 33.55 points or 1.35 percent to finish at 2,450.47 after trading between 2,446.59 and 2,491.13. Volume was 460 million shares worth 8.7 trillion won. There were 644 decliners and 233 gainers. Among the actives, Shinhan Financial plunged 3.35 percent, while KB Financial lost 0.69 percent, Hana Financial skidded 1.6 percent, Samsung Electronics tumbled 2.01 percent, LG Electronics rallied 2.34 percent, SK Hynix shed 0.87 percent, Naver tanked 2.13 percent, LG Chem dipped 0.29 percent, Lotte Chemical plummeted 3.46 percent, S-Oil declined 1.54 percent, SK Innovation surrendered 3.36 percent, POSCO dropped 2.57 percent, SK Telecom retreated 1.67 percent, KEPCO sank 0.74 percent, Hyundai Mobis crashed 3.73 percent, Hyundai Motor slumped 2.24 percent and Kia Motors eased 0.15 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened lower on Monday and moved deeper into the red as the day progressed, finishing near session lows.

The Dow plunged 260.99 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 33,717.09, while the NASDAQ tumbled 227.90 points or 1.96 percent to close at 11,393.81 and the S&P 500 dropped 52.79 points or 1.30 percent to end at 4,017.77.

The weakness on Wall Street came as investors looked to lock in gains following recent strength in the markets, and also to consolidate positions ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate decision on Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes to 25 basis points. Traders will pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for further rate hikes.

Recent upbeat economic data has generated some optimism the Fed could engineer a soft landing but has also led to concerns the central bank will need to keep rates at elevated levels for longer than anticipated.

Oil prices fell to near three-week lows on Monday amid concerns about global economic growth and the outlook for oil demand following Russia's decision to allow its energy companies to determine their own pricing and exports. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March dropped $1.78 or 2.2 percent at $77.90 a barrel. Closer to home, South Korea will provide December numbers for industrial production and retail sales later this morning. Industrial production is expected to fall 0.2 percent on month and 5.1 percent on year after adding 0.4 percent on month and shedding 3.7 percent on year in November. Retail sales were down 1.8 percent on month in November.