(RTTNews) - The South Korean stock market is trading in the red on Tuesday with investors tracking Wall Street’s negative close overnight and pressing sales in technology, energy, banking and shipbuilding stocks.

The benchmark KOSPI index, which opened more than 10 points down at 1,646.8 and dropped down to 1,638.4, is currently trading at 1,641 with a loss of 16.1 points, or 0.98%.

Shipping stocks are among the most prominent losers with reports of likely cancellation of of ship orders by TMT, the Taiwanese dry-bulk shipping firm, causing the damage. Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries and STX Pan Ocean are trading lower by 2%-2.8%, while Daewoo Shipbuilding is down by about 1.5%.

Among bank stocks, Korea Exchange Bank and Woori Finance are down 1.3% and 2% respectively while KB Financial and Shinhan Financial are trading modestly lower.

In the tech space, heavyweight Samsung Electronics is down by about 1%, LG Display LCD is declining 2.7% and Hynix Semicondutor is trading lower by 1.3%. LG Electronics, however, is up in positive territory with a sharp 2.2% gain.

Among automobile stocks, Kia Motor and Hyundai Motor are trading flat, while Ssangyong Motor is down with a loss of 2.4%. Airliners Korea Airlines and Asiana Airlines are trading lower by 2% and 1.3% respectively.

Oil stocks SK Holdings and S-Oil are down with notable losses. KEPCO is down 1.7% from its previous closing price. Steel and telecom stocks are also seen struggling for support.

Other markets across the Asia-Pacific region are also currently trading in the red. Australia, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan and New Zealand are trading notably lower, while Indonesia and Singapore are down with modest losses. Most of the markets in the region had ended higher on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks gave up early gains and declined sharply on Monday amid a considerable pullback in the financial and commodity sectors. While early strength came as traders reacted positively to the latest batch of earnings news and optimism about the third quarter GDP report, some negative analyst comments about the financial sector hurt sentiment during the later part of the session.

The Dow closed with a loss of 104.2, or 1.1%, at 9,867.96, the Nasdaq declined 12.6 points, or 0.6%, to 2,141.8, and the S&P 500 ended down 12.7 points, or 1.2%, at 1,066.9.

Major European markets retreated by notable margins on Monday, with the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index falling by 1%, while the French CAC 40 index and the German DAX index both closed down by 1.7%.

Crude oil prices plunged away from a yearly high on Monday as global equities fell, raising concerns over the economy. A stronger U.S. dollar also lessened oil’s hedge value. Light sweet crude for December delivery fell to US$78.68, down US$1.82 on the session.

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Posted in Categories: Australia, Eurozone, Japan, New Zealand, Releases, Stocks, USA.

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