Continued Consolidation Called For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, sinking more than 20 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 3,200-point plateau and it may take further damage again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft ahead of key U.S. inflation data. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets also figure to track into the red.

The KOSPI finished slightly lower again on Monday following mixed performances from the financial shares, technology stocks and industrial issues. For the day, the index dipped 3.24 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 3,206.77. Volume was 302.01 million shares worth 10.23 trillion won. There were 578 decliners and 298 gainers. Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.29 percent, while KB Financial sank 0.70 percent, Hana Financial lost 0.59 percent, Samsung Electronics skidded 1.11 percent, Samsung SDI spiked 3.21 percent, LG Electronics shed 0.39 percent, SK Hynix rallied 4.09 percent, Naver tanked 2.83 percent, Lotte Chemical retreated 1.45 percent, SK Innovation eased 0.09 percent, POSCO Holdings soared 3.72 percent, SK Telecom fell 0.36 percent, KEPCO tumbled 1.89 percent, Hyundai Mobis dropped 0.84 percent, Kia Motors was down 0.29 percent and LG Chem and Hyundai Motor were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened mixed on Monday, rallied midday but then slumped in the afternoon and finished under water.

The Dow dropped 200.52 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 43,975.09, while the NASDAQ sank 64.62 points or 0.30 percent to close at 21,385.40 and the S&P 500 fell 16.00 points or 0.25 percent to end at 6,373.45.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of several closely watched economic reports in the coming days.

The Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation in the month of July is likely to be in focus later today as the data could impact the outlook for interest rates.

Ahead of the release of the data, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is indicating an 86.5 percent chance the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates by a quarter point next month.

Crude oil edged higher on Monday as Russia shrugged off the U.S. deadline to end its war with Ukraine or face sanctions. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $0.17 or 0.27 percent at $64.05 per barrel.