The South Korea stock market has finished lower now in back-to-back sessions, giving away almost 55 points or 2.5 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,050-point plateau, and the market is looking at another soft start again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets remains soft thanks to the weekend's referendum results in Greece - although bargain hunting may provide a lift later in the day. The European and U.S. markets were down on Monday and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.
The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Monday on news of the Greek vote, with broadly based losses including in particular the technology stocks and industrial issues.
For the day, the index dropped 50.48 points or 2.40 percent to finish at 2,053.93 after trading between 2,052.23 and 2,089.86. Volume was 463.77 million shares worth 6.28 trillion won.
Among the actives, Samsung Electronics shed 3 percent, while SK Hynix lost 4.5 percent, Hyundai Motor dropped 1.5 percent, AmorePacific tumbled 3.8 percent, Cheil Industries fell 3.3 percent, Samsung Life Insurance slipped 3.7 percent and Hyundai Mobis retreated 1.5 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as stocks moved lower on Monday in a kneejerk response to the Greek vote. During the session, the Dow hit its lowest intraday level in five months.
The Dow dipped 46.53 points or 0.3 percent to 17,683.58, while the NASDAQ slid 17.27 points or 0.3 percent to 4,991.94 and the S&P 500 fell 8.02 points or 0.4 percent to 2,068.76.
The weakness followed news that the Greek people voted to reject the austerity measures proposed by the country's international creditors. The "no" vote on the referendum has added to recent concerns about Greece leaving the eurozone.
European officials said they respect the Greek voters' decision but argued that it is now up to the Greek government to come up with a new proposal.
On the U.S. economic front, the Institute for Supply Management reported that activity in the service sector expanded at a modestly faster rate in June.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com