Renewed Consolidation Tipped For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market turned higher again on Monday, one session after it had snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 15 points or 0.7 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,080-point plateau, although it figures to head south again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, thanks to concerns over the outlook for interest rates and a decline in the price of crude oil. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The KOSPI finished slightly higher on Monday as gains from the industrials were tempered by weakness from the financial shares and a mixed picture from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index added 2.61 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 2,081.36 after trading between 2,067.68 and 2,083.80. Volume was 392 million shares worth 4.56 trillion won. There were 436 decliners and 364 gainers.

Among the actives, Samsung Electronics climbed 1.16 percent, while Samsung C&T dropped 1.65 percent, LG Electronics plummeted 3.05 percent, SK hynix surged 4.78 percent, Hyundai Motor spiked 2.11 percent, Kia Motors added 0.14 percent, POSCO picked up 0.35 percent, Shinhan Financial shed 0.74 percent and Woori Bank skidded 1.49 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks opened lower on Monday and finished that way, largely thanks to profit taking.

The Dow dipped 51.37 points or 0.2 percent to 20,954.34, while the NASDAQ slid 21.58 points or 0.4 percent to 5,849.18 and the S&P 500 fell 7.81 points or 0.3 percent to 2,375.31.

Concerns about an increase in interest rates at next week's Federal Reserve meeting also weighed on the markets, with CME Group's FedWatch tool indicating an 86.4 percent probability of a quarter-point rate hike.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said that new orders for manufactured goods increased in line with expectations in January.

Crude oil prices fell Monday as the U.S. dollar firmed. Demand concerns and expectations for increased oil supplies also dented oil prices. WTI light sweet crude oil fell 13 cents or 0.2 percent to $53.20/bbl on Nymex.