The South Korea stock market on Monday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 30 points or 1.3 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,300-point plateau and it may continue to spin its wheels on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower amid a sharp drop in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were mostly down and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.
The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the financial and steel shares and a mixed performance from the technology stocks.
For the day, the index sank 8.91 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 2,301.99 after trading between 2,299.79 and 2,317.84. Volume was 293 million shares worth 4.89 trillion won. There were 501 decliners and 319 gainers.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial eased 0.11 percent, while KB Financial tumbled 2.53 percent, Hana Financial retreated 2.05 percent, Woori Bank skidded 1.77 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.97 percent, SK Hynix added 0.56 percent, LG Electronics dropped 1.55 percent, LG Display climbed 1.28 percent, POSCO lost 0.47 percent, Hyundai Steel fell 0.82 percent, Hyundai Motor spiked 2.86 percent, Kia Motors jumped 1.59 percent and KEPCO was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as stocks were lackluster on Monday, bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before ending mixed.
The Dow rose 44.95 points or 0.18 percent to 25,064.36, while the NASDAQ dipped 20.26 points or 0.26 percent to 7,805.72 and the S&P 500 fell 2.88 points or 0.10 percent to 2,798.43.
Traders were reluctant to make big moves ahead of key quarterly results this week, including Goldman Sachs (GS), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Morgan Stanley (MS), American Express (AXP), IBM Corp. (IBM), Microsoft (MSFT), and General Electric (GE).
In economic news, the Commerce Department said retail sales in the U.S. increased in line with estimates in June, as did business inventories in May. Also, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said manufacturing activity continued to grow at a brisk pace in July, although slower than the previous month.
Many of the major sectors showed only modest moves on the day, although considerable weakness was visible among energy stocks - which came amid a sharp drop in the price of crude oil as August delivery plunged $2.95 to $68.06 a barrel.
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