South Korea Bourse May Extend Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, stumbling more than 85 points or 3.4 percent in that span. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 2,560-point plateau and it may take further damage again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on concerns over the health of the world economy. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Friday with damage across the board, especially among the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.

For the day, the index retreated 49.17 points or 1.89 percent to finish at 2,557.98 after trading between 2,549.26 and 2,592.63. Volume was 507.56 million shares worth 7.07 trillion won. There were 728 decliners and 168 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial retreated 1.24 percent, while KB Financial declined 1.87 percent, Hana Financial fell 0.49 percent, Samsung Electronics stumbled 2.59 percent, Samsung SDI cratered 2.12 percent, LG Electronics tanked 2.91 percent, SK Hynix plunged 3.72 percent, Naver weakened 1.57 percent, LG Chem crashed 3.38 percent, Lotte Chemical plummeted 5.57 percent, SK Innovation sank 0.74 percent, POSCO Holdings tumbled 2.83 percent, KEPCO dropped 0.90 percent, Hyundai Mobis slumped 4.29 percent, Hyundai Motor surrendered 3.53 percent, Kia Motors skidded 2.66 percent and SK Telecom was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is brutal as the major averages opened lower on Friday and only got worse as the day progressed, ending near session lows.

The Dow plummeted 715.80 points or 1.69 percent to end at 41,583.90, while the NASDAQ tumbled 481.01 points or 2.70 percent to close at 17.322.99 and the S&P 500 dropped 112.37 points or 1.97 percent to end at 5,580.94. For the week, the NASDAQ plunged 2.6 percent, while the S&P lost 1.5 percent and the Dow shed 1.0 percent.

The sell-off on Wall Street came amid concerns about the outlook for the economy following the latest data, including the Federal Reserve's preferred readings on inflation.

While the Commerce Department report showed consumer prices increased in line with economist estimates, core consumer prices rose by slightly more than expected.

Stocks saw further downside after the University of Michigan released revised data showing consumer sentiment deteriorated more than estimated in March.

Oil prices fell Friday, but the most active futures contract still posted a weekly gain amid prospects of tighter supplies following the U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May settled at $69.36 a barrel, losing $0.56 or 0.8 percent. WTI crude futures gained 1.6 percent in the week.

Closer to home, South Korea will provide February numbers for industrial production and retail sales later this morning; in January, industrial production was down 2.3 percent on month and 4.1 percent on year, while sales slipped 0.6 percent on month.