South Korea Stock Market Set To End Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished lower in five straight sessions, sinking almost 110 points or 4.5 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,370-point plateau although it may finally stop the bleeding on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat after days of selling as recession fears may already be priced in. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the oil and industrial companies, while the financials and technology stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index sank 11.73 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 2,371.08 after trading between 2,357.20 and 2,387.95. Volume was 345.56 million shares worth 7.4 trillion won. There were 643 decliners and 218 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.40 percent, while KB Financial sank 0.79 percent, Hana Financial strengthened 1.59 percent, Samsung Electronics added 0.51 percent, Samsung SDI tumbled 2.12 percent, LG Electronics slid 0.55 percent, SK Hynix eased 0.13 percent, Naver climbed 1.09 percent, LG Chem declined 1.33 percent, Lotte Chemical soared 3.43 percent, S-Oil dropped 0.96 percent, SK Innovation and Hyundai Motor both shed 0.61 percent, POSCO retreated 1.21 percent, KEPCO plunged 2.27 percent, Hyundai Mobis lost 0.72 percent, Kia Motors fell 0.46 percent and SK Telecom was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and remained in the green throughout the session.

The Dow jumped 183.56 points or 0.55 percent to finish at 33,781.48, while the NASDAQ rallied 123.45 points or 1.13 percent to end at 11,082.00 and the S&P 500 added 29.59 points or 0.75 percent to close at 3,963.51.

The strength on Wall Street came as traders picked up stocks at somewhat reduced levels following the sell-off seen to start the week, which reflected concerns about the outlook for interest rates and the economy.

Traders will be looking for signs of a slowdown in producer price inflation later today, as well as a reduction in inflation expectations amid concerns the Federal Reserve will need to push the economy into a prolonged recession in order to bring inflation down close to its 2 percent target.

The Labor Department reported that first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged slightly higher last week.

Crude oil showed a notable downturn over the course of the trading day on Thursday as traders remain concerned about the outlook for energy demand amid the possibility of a global recession. West Texas Intermediate for January delivery slid $0.55 or 0.8 percent to $71.46 a barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will provide October figures for current account later today; in September, the current account surplus was $1.61 billion.