South Korea Bourse May Extend Friday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has tracked lower in two straight sessions, tumbling more than 200 points or 3.7 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 5,440-point plateau and it may take further damage on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets continues to be negative thanks to the conflict in the Middle East and the resulting surge in oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Friday as losses from the telecoms, mixed performances from the technology and chemical stocks and gains among the financials and automobile producers.

For the day, the index shed 21.59 points or 0.40 percent to finish at 5,438.87 after trading between 5,220.10 and 5,462.51. Volume was 889.8 million shares worth 23 trillion won. There were 441 decliners and 436 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial perked 0.11 percent, while Hana Financial collected 1.47 percent, Samsung Electronics fell 0.22 percent, Samsung SDI spiked 2.27 percent, LG Electronics dropped 0.88 percent, SK Hynix skidded 1.18 percent, Naver added 0.47 percent, LG Chem shed 0.32 percent, Lotte Chemical soared 2.73 percent, SK Innovation was up 0.09 percent, POSCO Holdings increased 0.15 percent, SK Telecom eased 0.13 percent, KEPCO plunged 4.57 percent, Hyundai Mobis accelerated 2.51 percent, Hyundai Motor climbed 1.02 percent, Kia Motors gained 0.71 percent and KB Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street remains grim as the major averages opened lower on Friday and got worse as the day progressed, ending at session lows.

The Dow plunged 793.46 points or 1.73 percent to finish at 45,166.64, while the NASDAQ tumbled 459.74 points or 2.15 percent to close at 20,948.36 and the S&P 500 dropped 108.31 points or 1.67 percent to end at 6,368.85.

For the week, the NASDAQ plummeted 3.2 percent, the S&P 500 dove 2.1 percent and the Dow slid 0.9 percent. The steep losses dragged the major averages down to their lowest closing levels in over eight months.

A continued surge by the price of crude oil weighed on Wall Street, with international benchmark Brent crude futures jumping back above $110 a barrel after soaring by more than 5 percent.

Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Friday after Iran shut down reports of peace talks for the ongoing conflict. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $5.32 or 5.63 percent at $99.80 per barrel.

Analysts suggest that the longer crude oil prices remain at elevated levels, the greater the fear of inflationary pressures continuing to climb.