(RTTNews) - Ahead of Monday's holiday for Independence Movement Day, the South Korea stock market had ended the six-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 800 points or 13.7 percent to a fresh record closing high. The KOSPI now sits just above the 6,240-point plateau although it may bounce higher again on Tuesday.
Th global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed, with geopolitical concerns expected to war with bargain hunting. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Friday following losses among the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.
For the day, the index dropped 63.14 points or 1.00 percent to finish at 6,244.13 after trading between 6,153.87 and 6,347.41. Volume was 1.14 billion shares worth 52.94 trillion won. There were 625 decliners and 264 gainers.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial stumbled 3.00 percent, while KB Financial plunged 3.81 percent, Hana Financial surrendered 2.48 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.69 percent, Samsung SDI soared 3.79 percent, LG Electronics lost 0.68 percent, SK Hynix tumbled 3.46 percent, Naver retreated 2.30 percent, LG Chem surged 7.05 percent, Lotte Chemical accelerated 6.56 percent, SK Innovation slumped 1.77 percent, POSCO Holdings vaulted 1.35 percent, SK Telecom crashed 3.04 percent, KEPCO cratered 7.58 percent, Hyundai Mobis contracted 2.27 percent, Hyundai Motor skyrocketed 10.67 percent and Kia Motors dipped 0.24 percent.
The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened lower on Monday but gradually came back and hugged the line for the rest of the day, ending mixed.
The Dow sank 73.14 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 48,904.78. while the NASDAQ gained 80.65 points or 0.36 percent to close at 22,748.86 and the S&P 500 rose 2.74 points or 0.04 percent to end at 6,881.62.
Early selling pressure was generated in reaction to the news that the U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes against Iran over the weekend, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The subsequent turnaround came as traders used the initial sell-off as an opportunity to pick up stocks at reduced levels after the Dow hit its lowest intraday level in two months.
In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing a slight slowdown in the pace of growth in U.S. manufacturing activity in the month of February.
Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Monday amid concerns about supply disruptions due to the conflict in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery surged $4.08 or 6.1 percent to $71.10 a barrel.
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