South Korea Bourse May Find Traction On Tuesday

The South Korea stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, slumping almost 45 points or 1.8 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,435-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism ahead of earnings and anticipated bargain hunting after a couple days of heavy selling. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the technology stocks and industrial companies.

For the day, the index dropped 19.91 points or 0.81 percent to finish at 2,436.24 after trading between 2,422.52 and 2,453.77. Volume was 776.2 million shares worth 8.29 trillion won. There were 644 decliners and 248 gainers.

Among the actives, Hana Financial collected 0.46 percent, while Samsung Electronics skidded 1.03 percent, Samsung SDI tanked 2.28 percent, LG Electronics added 0.38 percent, SK Hynix shed 0.48 percent, Naver slumped 1.09 percent, LG Chem surrendered 2.84 percent, Lotte Chemical jumped 1.68 percent, S-Oil fell 0.41 percent, SK Innovation rallied 1.29 percent, POSCO dropped 0.98 percent, SK Telecom improved 0.71 percent, KEPCO declined 1.66 percent, Hyundai Mobis tumbled 1.72 percent, Hyundai Motor eased 0.16 percent, Kia Motors dipped 0.36 percent and Shinhan Financial and KB Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened sharply higher on Monday pretty much stayed that way throughout the session.

The Dow jumped 314.25 points or 0.93 percent to finish at 33,984.54, while the NASDAQ rallied 160.75 points or 1.20 percent to end at 13,567.98 and the S&P 500 gained 45.85 points or 1.06 percent to close at 4,373.63.

The strength on Wall Street came as stocks rallied ahead of earnings updates from several top-ranked companies, shrugging off rising bond yields and concerns about the ongoing war in the Middle East.

Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Tesla, Netflix and Johnson & Johnson are among the companies scheduled to announce their quarterly results this week.

In economic news, the New York Federal Reserve released a report showing a downturn in regional manufacturing activity in the month of October.

Crude oil prices fell on Monday, retreating after rising sharply in the previous session amid fears that the ongoing Israel-Hamas war might fuel a wider conflict in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November shed $1.03 or 1.2 percent at $86.66 a barrel.