The South Korea stock market on Monday halted the two-day winning streak in which it had collected almost 40 points or 1.2 percent. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 3,225-point plateau although it may bounce higher again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with little movement expected among ongoing Covid-19 concerns. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and industrials.
For the day, the index dropped 29.47 points or 0.91 percent to finish at the daily low of 3,224.95 after peaking at 3,265.99. Volume was 813 million shares worth 12 trillion won. There were 662 decliners and 212 gainers.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial retreated 1.04 percent, while KB Financial sank 0.77 percent, Hana Financial shed 0.68 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.63 percent, LG Electronics declined 1.42 percent, SK Hynix skidded 1.27 percent, Samsung SDI tumbled 1.86 percent, LG Chem surrendered 1.33 percent, Lotte Chemical added 0.56 percent, S-Oil gained 0.42 percent, SK Innovation plunged 1.90 percent, POSCO tanked 2.22 percent, Hyundai Steel slid 0.57 percent, Hyundai Motor lost 0.44 percent, Kia Motors fell 0.58 percent and Naver was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages shook off a soft open on Monday, climbing gradually throughout the day to finish at fresh record closing highs.
The Dow gained 82.76 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 35,144.31, while the NASDAQ rose 3.72 points or 0.03 percent to end at 16,565.31 and the S&P 500 added 10.51 points or 0.24 percent to close at 4,422.30.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as upbeat earnings news warred with concerns about the spread of new coronavirus variants.
Traders may also have been reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The Fed is expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but traders will pay close attention to any comments regarding its asset purchase program.
In economic news, the Commerce Department showed another steep drop in new home sales in June.
Crude oil futures settled lower Monday amid worries about the outlook for energy demand due to the rapidly spreading delta variant of the coronavirus in several countries around the world. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended down by $0.16 or 0.2 percent at $71.91 a barrel after four straight days of gains.
Closer to home, South Korea will on Tuesday release an advance estimate of gross domestic product for the second quarter of 2021 later this morning.
GDP is predicted to have risen 0.7 percent on quarter and 6.0 percent on year after rising 1.7 percent on quarter and 1.9 percent on year in the three months prior.
Market Analysis
Mild Rebound Anticipated For South Korea Stock Market
2021-07-26 23:00:13
