The South Korea stock market has tracked lower in four straight sessions, slumping more than 100 points or 3.6 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 2,765-point plateau although it\'s due for support on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with bargain hunting among the technology stocks expected to fuel the rally. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.
The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Monday following losses from the technology stocks, chemicals and automobile producers, while the financials offered support.
For the day, the index slumped 31.95 points or 1.14 percent to finish at 2,763.51 after trading between 2,752.63 and 2,795.12. Volume was 456.1 million shares worth 10.3 trillion won. There were 673 decliners and 211 gainers.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial soared 3.00 percent, while KB Financial spiked 2.00 percent, Hana Financial collected 1.44 percent, Samsung Electronics stumbled 1.66 percent, Samsung SDI plunged 4.20 percent, LG Electronics sank 0.72 percent, SK Hynix tanked 2.15 percent, Naver rose 0.29 percent, LG Chem surrendered 2.61 percent, Lotte Chemical declined 1.63 percent, SK Innovation plunged 3.93 percent, POSCO dropped 2.29 percent, SK Telecom dipped 0.19 percent, KEPCO skidded 1.01 percent, Hyundai Mobis shed 0.89 percent, Hyundai Motor retreated 1.35 percent and Kia Motors lost 0.34 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher and mostly stayed that way throughout the trading day.
The Dow climbed 127.91 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 40,415.44, while the NASDAQ surged 280.63 points or 1.58 percent to end at 18,007.57 and the S&P 500 rallied 59.41 points or 1.08 percent to close at 5,564.41.
The strength on Wall Street came as tech stocks regained ground following the steep drop seen last week, which saw the NASDAQ plunge by 3.7 percent. AI darling and tech sector leader Nvidia (NVDA) led the rebound, spiking 4.8 percent.
The advance by Nvidia also lent considerable strength to the semiconductor stocks, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index soaring 4.0 percent after ending last week at its lowest closing level in over a month.
Stocks also moved higher after President Joe Biden announced his decision to drop out of the presidential race and endorsed his Vice President Kamala Harris.
Crude oil futures eased on Monday, declining for the third consecutive session on concerns about the outlook for oil demand and renewed hopes of a ceasefire in Gaza. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended down $0.35 or at $79.78 a barrel.