The South Korea stock market headed south again on Tuesday, one day after ending the two-day slide in which it had given up almost 35 points or 1.4 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,635-point plateau although it's expected to rebound again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing tariff and trade war concerns. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The KOSPI finished slightly lower on Tuesday following losses from the technology stocks and industrials, while the financial shares were mixed.
For the day, the index shed 7.18 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 2,637.22 after trading between 2,625.66 and 2,642.63. Volume was 315.52 million shares worth 7.81 trillion won. There were 514 decliners and 361 gainers.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.36 percent, while KB Financial eased 0.10 percent, Hana Financial shed 0.57 percent, Samsung Electronics retreated 1.46 percent, Samsung SDI stumbled 3.49 percent, LG Electronics plunged 3.63 percent, SK Hynix slipped 0.25 percent, Naver surrendered 2.23 percent, LG Chem tumbled 2.56 percent, SK Innovation declined 1.80 percent, POSCO Holdings tanked 1.86 percent, SK Telecom added 0.58 percent, KEPCO plummeted 3.47 percent, Hyundai Mobis lost 0.41 percent, Kia Motors perked 0.11 percent and Hyundai Motor and Lotte Chemical were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened in the green and continued to accelerate as the day progressed.
The Dow spiked 740.58 points or 1.78 percent to finish at 42,343.65, while the NASDAQ surged 461.96 points or 2.47 percent to close at 19,199.16 and the S&P 500 jumped 118.72 points or 2.05 percent to end at 5,921.54.
The rally on Wall Street came after President Donald Trump announced he is delaying a threatened 50 percent tariff on imports from the European Union.
The move by Trump came as analysts previously suggested the threatened tariff on the EU was just a negotiating tactic and not where the eventual rate will wind up.
Positive sentiment was also generated in reaction to a report released by the Conference Board showing a substantial improvement by U.S. consumer confidence in the month of May.
Crude oil prices slumped on Tuesday on continuing concerns that OPEC may boost output at its meeting later today. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery dropped 0.65 or 1 percent to $64.09 per barrel.
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Market Analysis
June 27, 2025 12:15 ET All eyes were on the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell this week as he testified before lawmakers to throw light on the future path of monetary policy. Revised GDP figures also gained attention along with other official data on housing and labor market. In Europe, results of business surveys were the main news. Inflation data from Australia was in focus in the Asia-Pacific.