Tech Shares May Boost South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 45 points or 1.8 percent. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 2,620-point plateau and it may inch higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged but said more rate hikes were likely before the end of the year. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the technology stocks, gains from the automobile producers and mixed performances from the oil and financial sectors.

For the day, the index shed 18.87 points or 0.72 percent to finish at 2,619.08. Volume was 644 million shares worth 12.9 trillion won. There were 659 decliners and 237 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial sank 0.71 percent, while KB Financial perked 0.10 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.12 percent, Samsung Electronics dipped 0.14 percent, Samsung SDI retreated 1.48 percent, LG Electronics rose 0.24 percent, SK Hynix shed 0.59 percent, Naver dropped 0.90 percent, LG Chem tanked 2.31 percent, Lotte Chemical surged 3.95 percent, S-Oil improved 1.24 percent, SK Innovation plunged 3.36 percent, POSCO added 0.51 percent, SK Telecom lost 0.72 percent, KEPCO tumbled 1.84 percent, Hyundai Mobis fell 0.22 percent, Hyundai Motor accelerated 1.52 percent and Kia Motors advanced 0.85 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened mixed, tumbled after the Fed's policy statement but then rebounded to finish on opposite sides of the line.

The Dow slumped 232.79 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 33,979.33, while the NASDAQ added 53.16 points or 0.39 percent to close at 13,626.48 and the S&P 500 rose 3.58 points or 0.08 percent to end at 4,372.59.

The late-day volatility came after the Fed announced its widely expected decision to pause its interest rate increases following 10 consecutive rate hikes but also forecast additional increases later this year.

However, the central bank's latest projections suggest the Fed plans to resume raising rates later this year, forecasting a rate of 5.6 percent by the end of 2023.

The forecast for additional rate hikes this year comes as the Fed raised its forecast for annual core consumer price growth to 3.9 percent from 3.6 percent.

Crude oil prices pared early gains and drifted lower Wednesday after data showed a notable increase in U.S. crude inventories last week, while a stronger greenback also weighed. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July sank $1.15 or 1.7 percent at $68.27 a barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will release May numbers for imports, exports and trade balance later this morning. Imports are expected to tumbled 14.0 percent on year after sinking 13.3 percent in April. Exports are seen lower by an annual 15.2 percent after dropping 14.3 percent in the previous month. The trade deficit is pegged at $2.10 billion following the $2.70 billion deficit a month earlier.