Oversold KOSPI Has Negative Lead Again

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, tumbling more than 330 points or 11.9 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,440-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is bleak on continuing concerns about the health of the U.S. economy. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower on Monday and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion again - although this selloff is quite overdone and may fade as the day progresses.

The KOSPI finished with record losses in all sectors on Monday, spooked by concerns over the health of the U.S. economy.

For the day, the index plunged a record 234.64 points or 8.77 percent to finish at 2,441.55. Volume was 749.3 million shares worth 18.4 trillion won. There were 919 decliners and 10 gainers. Among the actives, Shinhan Financial stumbled 7.53 percent, while KB Financial retreated 7.69 percent, Hana Financial tanked 8.55 percent, Samsung Electronics tumbled 10.30 percent, Samsung SDI surrendered 9.66 percent, LG Electronics sank 9.49 percent, SK Hynix shed 9.87 percent, Naver lost 8.93 percent, LG Chem crashed 11.67 percent, Lotte Chemical plunged 11.43 percent, SK Innovation contracted 13.40 percent, POSCO plummeted 11.78 percent, SK Telecom dropped 4.24 percent, KEPCO tumbled 6.60 percent, Hyundai Mobis declined 6.21 percent, Hyundai Motor fell 8.20 percent and Kia Motors skidded 10.08 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is brutal as the major averages opened deep in the red on Monday and stayed that way throughout the trading day.

The Dow plummeted 1,033 .99 points or 2.60 percent to finish at 38,703.27, while the NASDAQ tanked 576.08 points or 3.43 percent to close at 16,200.08 and the S&P 500 plunged 160.23 points or 3.00 percent to end at 5,186.33.

The continued weakness on Wall Street came on concerns that the U.S. economy may slip into recession following last Friday's disappointing jobs report.

Stocks regained some ground following the release of a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing service sector activity in the U.S. turned positive in the month of July.

Oil futures lower on Monday on concerns about the outlook for demand amid fears the U.S. economy could slip into a recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September sank $0.58 or 0.7 percent at $72.94 a barrel.