South Korea Stock Market May Extend Friday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Friday snapped the six-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 1,350 points or 16 percent to a record closing high. The KOSPI now sits just above the 9,050-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is week after Iran closed down the Strait of Hormuz again over the weekend. The European markets were soft and the U.S. bourses were off and the Asian markets also figure to open in the red.

The KOSPI finished slightly lower on Friday as the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers ended mostly in the red.

For the day, the index slipped 11.42 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 9,052.42 after trading between 8,831.72 and 9,385.59. Volume was 511.1 million shares worth 65.3 trillion won. There were 784 decliners and 115 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial perked 0.10 percent, while KB Financial surrendered 2.94 percent, Hana Financial retreated 2.06 percent, Samsung Electronics tumbled 2.34 percent, Samsung SDI soared 6.32 percent, LG Electronics plummeted 6.49 percent, SK Hynix rallied 2.94 percent, Naver stumbled 2.34 percent, LG Chem slumped 1.31 percent, Lotte Chemical crashed 3.52 percent, SK Innovation skidded 1.06 percent, POSCO Holdings contracted 2.86 percent, SK Telecom dropped 1.04 percent, KEPCO cratered 3.68 percent, Hyundai Mobis rallied 1.49 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 2.00 percent and Kia Motors sank 2.46 percent.

The markets on Wall Street were closed on Friday for the Juneteenth holiday, but the European bourses ended mostly under water.

he UK's FTSE 100 ended down 0.35percent, while Germany's DAX drifted down 0.16 percent and France's CAC 40 lost 0.55percent and Switzerland's SMI edged up 0.06 percent.

The weakness that emerged was due to uncertainty about U.S. and Iran securing a lasting peace truce in the Middle East following the abrupt cancellation of talks between the two nations in Switzerland.

The cancellation happened following exchange of fresh attacks between Israel and Hezbollah, and Iran then accused the U.S. of breaking the agreement - since one of the main conditions was for Israel to also cease hostilities.

Crude oil prices tumbled last week on reports that the Strait of Hormuz was re-opened, falling more than 10 percent from the previous week's close to below $80. But Iran closed the strait again over the weekend, likely prompting a rebound in crude prices this week.