The South Korea stock market has finished lower in five straight sessions, sinking more than 85 points or 2.8 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 3,125-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian is mixed to higher, with bargain hunting and support from crude oil prices capped by a renewed spike in coronavirus cases in Asia. 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 lower on Monday following losses from the financials and chemical companies, gains from the industrials and a mixed picture from the technology stocks.
For the day, the index shed 20.66 points or 0.66 percent to finish at 3,127.20 after trading between 3,120.70 and 3,174.26. Volume was 1 billion shares worth 16.7 trillion won. There were 509 decliners and 359 gainers.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial tumbled 2.37 percent, while KB Financial retreated 1.83 percent, Hana Financial sank 3.72 percent, Samsung Electronics rose 0.25 percent, LG Electronics skidded 1.59 percent, SK Hynix rallied 2.73 percent, Naver advanced 0.97 percent, LG Chem tanked 2.68 percent, Lotte Chemical plunged 5.76 percent, S-Oil surged 3.21 percent, SK Innovation plummeted 5.55 percent, POSCO perked 1.10 percent, SK Telecom was up 0.16 percent, KEPCO dropped 0.85 percent, Hyundai Motor soared 2.83 percent and Kia Motors surged 4.03 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is mixed as stocks opened higher on Monday, although the NASDAQ soon fell into negative territory and could not recover.
The Dow climbed 238.38 points or 0.70 percent to finish at 34,113.23, while the NASDAQ shed 67.56 points or 0.48 percent to end at 13,895.12 and the S&P 500 advanced 11.49 points or 0.27 percent to close at 4,192.66.
Reopening plans sparked notable strength on the day after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced capacity limits for most businesses in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will be lifted beginning May 19.
Traders remain optimistic about the economic outlook, but analysts have raised some concerns about valuations and a potential correction.
In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management reported an unexpected slowdown in the pace of growth in U.S. manufacturing activity in April.
Crude oil futures closed higher on Monday amid hopes energy demand will increase in the U.S. following the reopening of businesses ahead of the summer, while a weak dollar also contributed to oil's advance. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended up by $0.91 or 1.4 percent at $64.49 a barrel.
Closer to home, South Korea will release April figures for consumer prices later this morning, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.1 percent on month and 2.15 percent on year following the 0.1 percent monthly increase and the 1.5 percent yearly gain in March.
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