South Korea Bourse May Take Further Damage On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, slumping more than 60 points or 2.5 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 2,420-point plateau and it may extend its losses again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns for the economy and for the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were firmly in the red and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead. The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the industrials, gains from the financials and a mixed picture from the technology stocks. For the day, the index dropped 15.01 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 2,419.32 after trading between 2,413.05 and 2,442.22. Volume was 379.8 million shares worth 7.6 trillion won. There were 446 decliners and 407 gainers. Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.26 percent, while KB Financial rose 0.19 percent, Hana Financial perked 0.11 percent, Samsung Electronics dipped 0.17 percent, Samsung SDI plunged 2.92 percent, LG Electronics added 0.21 percent, SK Hynix skidded 1.10 percent, Naver soared 3.23 percent, LG Chem and Hyundai Mobis both tanked 2.11 percent, Lotte Chemical surged 4.43 percent, S-Oil climbed 1.16 percent, SK Innovation retreated 1.44 percent, POSCO shed 0.51 percent, SK Telecom was up 0.20 percent, KEPCO fell 0.25 percent, Hyundai Motor tumbled 2.07 percent and Kia Motors declined 1.35 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened modestly lower and the losses accelerated as the day progressed, ending near session lows.

The Dow tumbled 482.78 points or 1.40 percent to finish at 33,947.10, while the NASDAQ slumped 221.56 points or 1.93 percent to close at 11,239.94 and the S&P 500 sank 72.86 points or 1.79 percent to end at 3,998.84.

The weakness on Wall Street reflected lingering uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates following last Friday's stronger-than-expected jobs data.

While the Federal Reserve is widely expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes next week, continued labor market tightness and elevated inflation may still lead the central bank to raise rates higher than currently anticipated. A drop in treasuries compounded the uncertainty.

Adding to the worries about where rates will peak, the Institute for Supply Management said that U.S. service sector activity unexpectedly accelerated in November.

Oil prices fell on Monday as strong U.S. service data raised the prospects for more aggressive moves by the Federal Reserve. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for January ended lower by $3.05 or 3.8 percent at $76.93 a barrel.