South Korea Shares May Extend Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has ticked lower in back-to-back sessions, sinking more than 20 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,560-point plateau and it's likely to open under pressure again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on growth and inflation concerns. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Wednesday as losses from the technology stocks were offset by gains from the financials and a mixed picture from the automobile shares.

For the day, the index lost 18.84 points or 0.73 percent to finish at 2,563.34. Volume was 415.9 million shares worth 7.55 trillion won. There were 588 decliners and 288 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.42 percent, while KB Financial gained 0.74 percent, Hana Financial improved 0.76 percent, Samsung Electronics dropped 0.99 percent, Samsung SDI tanked 2.11 percent, LG Electronics declined 1.66 percent, SK Hynix skidded 1.01 percent, Naver improved 0.94 percent, LG Chem retreated 1.18 percent, Lotte Chemical rallied 1.08 percent, S-Oil gained 0.91 percent, SK Innovation slumped 2.40 percent, POSCO plunged 2.85 percent, SK Telecom shed 0.63 percent, KEPCO eased 0.06 percent, Hyundai Mobis rose 0.21 percent, Hyundai Motor perked 0.05 percent and Kia Motors dipped 0.25 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower and remained under water throughout the trading day.

The Dow dropped 198.78 points or 0.57 percent to finish at 34,443.19, while the NASDAQ sank 148.48 points or 1.06 percent to end at 13,872.47 and the S&P 500 lost 31.35 points or 0.70 percent to close at 4,465.48.

The continued weakness on Wall Street reflected ongoing concerns about the outlook for the global economy and inflation concerns.

Stocks saw further downside following a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing an unexpected acceleration in the pace of U.S. service sector growth in August - sending treasury yields higher.

In other U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing the U.S. trade deficit widened in the month of July.

Crude oil prices extended recent gains and moved higher on Wednesday, lifting the futures contract to a fresh nine-month closing high - fueled by the decision by Russia and Saudi Arabia to extend production cuts. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for October ended higher by $0.85 or 1 percent at $87.54 a barrel.