South Korea Bourse May Extend Monday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market returned from the Chuseok holiday on Monday by snapping the four-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 360 points or 5.1 percent. The KOSPI now sits just shy of the 6,890-point plateau and it may open under pressure again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on a rebound in both crude oil prices and treasury yields. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Monday with damage across the board, especially among the financial shares, technology stocks and industrials.

For the day, the index tumbled 191.18 points or 2.70 percent to finish at 6,889.74. Volume was 216.2 million shares worth 21.8 trillion won. There were 608 gainers and 249 decliners.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Monday and remained under water throughout the trading day, ending at session lows.

The Dow dropped 347.11 points or 0.67 percent to finish at 51,481.51, while the NASDAQ sank 248.34 points or 0.92 percent to close at 26,820.38 and the S&P 500 lost 59.72 points or 0.77 percent to end at 7,683.69.

The weakness on Wall Street followed a substantial rebound by the price of crude oil, which has been a key driver of trading in recent sessions.

Crude oil prices were up on Monday, although well off early highs after U.S. President Donald Trump rejected Iran's conditional proposal for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $0.41 or 0.42 percent to $92.80 per barrel.

Reports cited U.S. officials as saying that Trump has told aides he expects to resume bombing Iran after the November midterm elections, which caused the jump in oil prices.

Treasury yields also spiked, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note reaching its highest level since June 2007. The jumps in oil prices and treasury yields have renewed concerns about the outlook for inflation and interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy meeting next month.