Continued Consolidation Called For KOSPI

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Tuesday ended the four-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 215 points or 5.3 percent to a fresh record closing high. The KOSPI sits just above the 4,120-point plateau and it may take further damage on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on concerns that technology shares may be over bought. The European and U.S. markets were firmly under water and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Tuesday following losses among the technology stocks and industrials, although the financial and chemical companies saw support.

For the day, the index plummeted 100.13 points or 2.37 percent to finish at 4,121.74. Volume was 421.1 million shares worth 20.7 trillion won. There were 504 decliners and 380 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial rallied 3.10 percent, while KB Financial collected 2.12 percent, Hana Financial soared 2.69 percent, Samsung Electronics tumbled 3.51 percent, Samsung SDI spiked 3.21 percent, LG Electronics and KEPCO both dipped 0.11 percent, SK Hynix tanked 5.48 percent, Naver retreated 2.37 percent, LG Chem added 0.51 percent, Lotte Chemical jumped 2.80 percent, POSCO Holdings rose 0.32 percent, SK Telecom gained 0.58 percent, Hyundai Mobis slumped 1.17 percent, Hyundai Motor plummeted 5.32 percent, Kia Motors stumbled 3.31 percent and SK Innovation was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and remained in the red throughout the trading day, ending near session lows.

The Dow dropped 251.44 points of 0.53 percent to finish at 47,085.24, while the NASDAQ plummeted 486.09 points or 2.04 percent to close at 23,348.64 and the S&P 500 sank 80.42 points or 1.17 percent to end at 6,771.55.

The sell-off on Wall Street came amid concerns about the valuations of tech stocks, which have helped lead the markets to record highs amid optimism about artificial intelligence.

The weakness on Wall Street also came as Goldman Sachs (GS) CEO David Solomon warned of a significant correction by the equity markets over the next 1-2 years.

Crude oil prices declined sharply on Tuesday due to excess supply concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $0.44 or 0.72 percent at $60.61 per barrel.