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.
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