Soft Start Anticipated For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has tracked lower in three straight sessions, tumbling more than 365 points or 5 percent in that span. The KOSPI now sits just above the 6,680-point plateau and it may extend its losses again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to a renewed spike in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Monday following heavy damage among the technology stocks and semiconductors.

For the day, the index plummeted 225.54 points or 3.26 percent to finish at 6,684.37. Volume was 274.4 million shares worth 20.19 trillion won. There were 561 decliners and 308 gainers.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Monday and remained in the red throughout the trading day, although well off session lows.

The Dow shed 152.09 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 52,421.20, while the NASDAQ sank 146.62 points or 0.56 percent to close at 26,186.41 and the S&P 500 fell 37.03 points or 0.48 percent to end at 7,619.98.

The pullback on Wall Street came amid a substantial rebound by the price of crude oil following news that a planned meeting in Oman between Iran and Gulf states over reopening Hormuz has been postponed.

Crude oil prices jumped on Monday after Saudi Arabia confirmed closing its East-West pipeline following attacks by Houthi militants. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $1.52 or 1.52 percent at $101.57 per barrel.

Selling pressure in the tech sector has also been generated amid renewed worries about artificial intelligence after industry leaders called for a slowdown in the pace of AI development.

Traders are also looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy decision later this week. With oil prices surging and recent data pointing to stick inflation, CME Group's FedWatch tool is currently showing a nearly 90 percent chance the Fed will raise rates by a quarter point.

Closer to home, South Korea will provide August numbers for imports, exports and trade balance later this morning. In July, imports were up 22.5 percent on year and exports surged an annual 68.7 percent for a trade surplus of $34.75 billion.