South Korea Stock Market May Extend Monday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the seven-day winning streak in which it had rallied almost 150 points or 5.7 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,645-point plateau and it may take further damage on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on growing U.S. tariff concerns. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian markets are also expected to open under pressure. The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Monday following mixed performances from the financial shares, technology stocks and chemical companies. For the day, the index shed 9.31 points or 0.35 percent to finish at the daily high of 2,645.27 after moving as low as 2,626.88. Volume was 491.48 million shares worth 10.46 trillion won. There were 448 gainers and 421 decliners. Among the actives, Shinhan Financial dropped 0.94 percent, while KB Financial sank 0.85 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.32 percent, Samsung Electronics retreated 1.55 percent, Samsung SDI skyrocketed 6.70 percent, LG Electronics improved 1.21 percent, SK Hynix stumbled 2.15 percent, Naver gained 0.66 percent, LG Chem jumped 1.86 percent, Lotte Chemical shed 0.53 percent, SK Innovation climbed 1.13 percent, POSCO Holdings fell 0.35 percent, SK Telecom increased 0.86 percent, KEPCO picked up 0.68 percent, Hyundai Mobis advanced 0.79 percent, Hyundai Motor added 0.49 percent and Kia Motors rose 0.32 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened higher on Monday but faded quickly and finished mixed.

The Dow added 33.19 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 43,461.21, while the NASDAQ tumbled 237.08 points or 1.21 percent to close at 19,286.93 and the S&P 500 sank 29.88 points or 0.50 percent to end at 5,983.25.

The NASDAQ and the S&P 500 ended the day firmly in the red after President Donald Trump said previously delayed tariffs on Canada and Mexico are "going forward on time." The volatility on Wall Street also came as traders looked ahead to the release of earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA). The AI darling and market leader is scheduled to release its fourth quarter results after the close of trading on Wednesday.

Oil prices climbed higher on Monday as fresh sanctions by the United States on Iran raised the possibility of a drop in global supplies. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April settled higher by $0.30 at $70.70 a barrel. Closer to home, the Bank of Korea will wrap up its monetary policy meeting this morning and then announce its decision on interest rates. The BoK is expected to trim its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis point, to 2.75 percent from 3.00 percent.