Rebound Called For South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market turned emphatically lower again on Wednesday, one day after ending the four-day losing streak in which it had tumbled more than 120 points or 4.8 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,290-point plateau although it's predicted to bounce higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with oversold markets likely to rebound on possible easing inflation concerns. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Wednesday with damage across the board, especially among the financials, industrials, oil companies and technology stocks.

For the day, the index dropped 49.77 points or 2.13 percent to finish at 2,292.01 after trading between 2,290.33 and 2,332.14. Volume was 400.3 million shares worth 8.53 trillion won. There were 697 decliners and 177 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial plummeted 4.96 percent, while KB Financial surrendered 3.49 percent, Hana Financial cratered 3.59 percent, Samsung Electronics retreated 1.40 percent, Samsung SDI weakened 2.61 percent, LG Electronics lost 2.51 percent, SK Hynix dipped 0.43 percent, Naver rose 0.21 percent, LG Chem skidded 1.17 percent, Lotte Chemical declined 2.45 percent, S-Oil crashed 9.31 percent, SK Innovation plunged 5.26 percent, POSCO tanked 3.56 percent, SK Telecom shed 0.74 percent, KEPCO slumped 3.49 percent, Hyundai Motor tumbled 2.82 percent and Kia Motors dropped 3.83 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages hugged the unchanged line for most of Wednesday's trade before a late rally pushed them into the green.

The Dow climbed 69.86 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 31,037.68, while the NASDAQ added 39.61 points or 0.35 percent to close at 11,361.85 and the S&P 500 rose 13.69 points or 0.36 percent to end at 3,845.08.

The late rally on Wall Street followed the release of the latest batch of minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting, which showed the central bank remains committed to bringing down inflation.

The minutes also said participants continued to anticipate that ongoing increases in the target range for the federal funds would be appropriate to achieve the monetary policy committee's objectives; another 50 or 75-basis point move is expected in the July meeting.

Crude oil futures settled lower Wednesday amid concerns about outlook for energy demand due to a surge in Covid-19 cases in China and fears over a possible recession, while a strong greenback also weighed. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for August ended lower by $0.97 or 1 percent at $98.53 a barrel.