KOSPI May Reclaim 2,600-Point Level

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Thursday snapped the three-day losing streak in which it had retreated more than 40 points or 1.7 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,590-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Friday.

The global forecast is murky on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly higher on Thursday as gains from the financials and technology stocks were capped by profit taking among the automobile producers.

For the day, the index added 11.07 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 2,593.70. Volume was 601.54 million shares worth 8.76 trillion won. There were 492 decliners and 358 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial strengthened 1.46 percent, while KB Financial jumped 1.92 percent, Hana Financial rallied 1.25 percent, Samsung Electronics climbed 1.13 percent, LG Electronics rose 0.32 percent, SK Hynix dropped 0.96 percent, Naver and SK Telecom both improved 0.74 percent, LG Chem eased 0.28 percent, Lotte Chemical perked 0.11 percent, S-Oil rose 0.28 percent, SK Innovation gained 0.61 percent, POSCO surged 3.53 percent, KEPCO fell 0.38 percent, Hyundai Motor sank 0.98 percent, Kia Motors shed 0.60 percent and Samsung SDI and Hyundai Mobis were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and spent much of the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before finally ending mixed.

The Dow dipped 4.81 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 33,946.71, while the NASDAQ jumped 128.41 points or 0.95 percent to end ay 13,630.61 and the S&P 500 added 16.20 points or 0.37 percent to close at 4,381.89.

Buying interest may also have been generated in reaction to a Labor Department report showing initial jobless claims held at their highest level since October 2021 last week.

With the Federal Reserve repeatedly warning about the impact of labor market tightness, the data may have added to optimism the central bank will not follow through on plans to continue raising interest rates.

Lingering concerns about rates limited the upside, however, as the Bank of England raised rates more aggressively, hiking rates by a bigger-than-expected 50 basis points.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Thursday as interest rate hikes and inflation concerns raised concerns about the outlook for fuel demand, while a stronger greenback also weighed. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $3.02 or 4.1 percent at $69.51 a barrel.