South Korea Stock Market May Find Traction On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved lower in four straight sessions, sinking more than 190 points or 7.9 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,330-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests bargain hunting after a couple of sessions of extremely heavy losses, The European markets were sharply lower and the U.S. bourses were mixed but the Asian markets are due to tick higher.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Monday with damage across the board thanks to tariff-driven fears, especially among the financials, industrials and technology stocks.

For the day, the index dropped 137.22 points or 5.57 percent to finish at 2,328.20 after trading between 2,327.01 and 2,369.40. Volume was 615.2 million shares worth 10.5 trillion won. There were 862 decliners and 68 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial declined 4.25 percent, while KB Financial crashed 6.95 percent, Hana Financial dropped 5.63 percent, Samsung Electronics stumbled 5.17 percent, Samsung SDI skidded 5.61 percent, LG Electronics sank 6.46 percent, SK Hynix plummeted 9.55 percent, Naver fell 3.03 percent, LG Chem slumped 6.00 percent, Lotte Chemical tumbled 6.24 percent, SK Innovation plunged 7.22 percent, POSCO cratered 6.59 percent, SK Telecom dipped 0.36 percent, KEPCO rallied 2.05 percent, Hyundai Mobis shed 4.05 percent, Hyundai Motor surrendered 6.62 percent and Kia Motors lost 5.69 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened lower on Monday but then hugged the line on both sides before finishing mixed and little changed.

The Dow tumbled 349.26 points or 0.91 percent to finish at 37,965.60, while the NASDAQ added 15.48 points or 0.10 percent to close at 15,603.26 and the S&P 500 fell 11.83 points or 0.23 percent to end at 5,062.25.

Stocks initially extended the sell-off seen over the two previous sessions amid ongoing concerns about the impact of President Donald Trump's new tariffs and retaliatory moves by U.S. trade partners.

Adding to worries about a global trade war, Trump threatened to impose an additional 50 percent tariff on Chinese goods unless the country withdraws its new 34 percent tariff on U.S. goods.

Selling pressure waned shortly after the start of trading, however, leading some traders to pick up stocks at reduced levels after the major averages hit their lowest intraday levels in over a year.

Crude oil prices tumbled again on Monday, extending the nosedive seen over the two previous sessions over tariff concerns. After plummeting nearly $10 a barrel last Thursday and Friday, West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery dropped $1.29 or 2.1 percent to $60.70 a barrel.