Soft Start Likely For South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, plummeting more than 510 points or 8.3 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 5,790-point plateau and it's likely to open under water again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on continuing concerns over the conflict in the Middle East, although oil stocks are expected to continue to soar. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished with its largest ever single-day loss on Tuesday with heavy damage among the technology, automobile and chemical companies, while the oil companies saw large gains.

For the day, the index cratered 452.22 points or 7.24 percent to finish at 5,791.91 after trading between 5,791.65 and 6,180.45. Volume was 1.2 billion shares worth 52.5 trillion won. There were 840 decliners and 73 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial eased 0.21 percent, while KB Financial sank 3.46 percent, Hana Financial shed 1.40 percent, Samsung Electronics plunged 9.88 percent, Samsung SDI plummeted 12.45 percent, LG Electronics tanked 12.42 percent, SK Hynix crashed 11.50 percent, Naver tumbled 7.27 percent, LG Chem surrendered 13.53 percent, Lotte Chemical dropped 12.10 percent, SK Innovation rallied 2.51 percent, S-Oil skyrocketed 28.45 percent, POSCO Holdings stumbled 9.32 percent, SK Telecom contracted 2.01 percent, KEPCO lost 12.99 percent, Hyundai Mobis skidded 9.38 percent, Hyundai Motor cratered 11.72 percent and Kia Motors declined 11.29 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and spent the entire session in the red, although closing at their best levels for the day.

The Dow stumbled 403.51 points or0.83 percent to finish at 48,501.27, while the NASDAQ sank 232.17 points or 1.02 percent to end at 22,516.69 and the S&P 500 dropped 64.99 points or 0.94 percent to close at 6,816.63.

The early nosedive on Wall Street came amid concerns about the fallout from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. As the conflict entered its fourth day, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested the war may last four to five weeks but could "go far longer than that."

The price of crude oil has continued to spike in response to the conflict, raising worries the jump in prices will lead to higher inflation.

Supply concerns were also worsened by the attacks on several oil refineries, including Saudi Aramco's oil facility in Ras Tanura.

After skyrocketing in the previous session, crude oil prices continued to soar on Tuesday after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery surged $3.35 or 4.7 percent to $74.58 a barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will provide January data for industrial production and retail sales later this morning. Output is expected to climb 0.5 percent on month and 2.2 percent on year after jumping 1.7 percent on month and falling 0.3 percent on year in December. Sales were up 0.9 percent on month in December.