Little Movement Seen For South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market ticked higher again on Monday, one session after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had rallied almost 340 points or 4.2 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 7,515-point plateau and it may be stuck in neutral on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on ongoing pessimism over the conflict in the Middle East and concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Monday following mixed performances from the technology and chemical companies, while the financial shares were soft.

For the day, the index added 22.86 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 7516.04 after trading between 7,142.71 and 7,636.20. Volume was 561.4 million shares worth 43.4 trillion won. There were 685 decliners and 203 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial stumbled 2.10 percent, while KB Financial retreated 1.67 percent, Hana Financial crashed 4.03 percent, Samsung Electronics rallied 3.88 percent, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation both dipped 0.16 percent, LG Electronics plummeted 9.77 percent, SK Hynix climbed 1.15 percent, Naver contracted 1.72 percent, LG Chem fell 0.27 percent, Lotte Chemical tanked 2.77 percent, POSCO Holdings dropped 0.96 percent, SK Telecom sank 0.79 percent, KEPCO surrendered 2.84 percent, Hyundai Mobis cratered 9.22 percent, Hyundai Motor plunged 5.29 percent and Kia Motors tumbled 3.27 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened higher on Monday but quickly turned tail, finally ending mixed.

The Dow gained 159.95 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 49,686.12, while the NASDAQ slumped 134.41 points or 0.51 percent to end at 26,090.73 and the S&P 500 dipped 5.45 points or 0.07 percent to close at 7,403.05.

The U.S.-Iran war has effectively closed the vital Strait of Hormuz, leading to a spike in crude oil prices and concerns about inflation and the outlook for interest rates.

Treasury yields soared last Friday amid speculation that the Federal Reserve's next interest rate move could be an increase rather than a cut.

The price of crude oil and treasury yields moved to the upside over the course of the day, adding to the negative sentiment on Wall Street.

Crude oil prices surged on Monday as the U.S. takes time to respond to Iran's new peace proposal. West Texas Intermediate crude for June was last up $3.27 or 3.10 percent at $108.69 per barrel.