South Korea Shares Tipped To Extend Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, sinking more than 30 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just shy of the 2,370-point plateau and it may see continued consolidation on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rates and recession fears. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financials and industrials, while the technology companies were mixed.

For the day, the index shed 11.07 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 2,368.32 after trading between 2,356.84 and 2,383.00. Volume was 528.3 million shares worth 5.43 trillion won. There were 548 decliners and 296 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial retreated 1.39 percent, while KB Financial skidded 1.02 percent, Hana Financial tanked 2.11 percent, Samsung Electronics lost 0.98 percent, Samsung SDI shed 0.49 percent, LG Electronics added 0.53 percent, SK Hynix declined 1.05 percent, Naver climbed 1.03 percent, LG Chem stumbled 0.97 percent, S-Oil sank 0.82 percent, SK Innovation dropped 0.96 percent, POSCO tumbled 1.80 percent, SK Telecom advanced 0.85 percent, KEPCO improved 0.75 percent, Hyundai Mobis plunged 3.02 percent, Hyundai Motor slumped 0.90 percent, Kia Motors fell 0.46 percent and Lotte Chemical was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages were unable to hold early support on Wednesday, quickly heading south and finishing near daily lows.

The Dow plummeted 613,89 points or 1.81 percent to finish at 33,296.96, while the NASDAQ tumbled 138.10 points or 1.24 percent to close at 10,957.01 and the S&P 500 sank 62.11 points or 1.56 percent to end at 3,928.86.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard commented that the central bank needs to quickly hike interest rates above 5 percent, shelving much of the recent optimism over interest rates.

Disappointing economic data also weighed as the Commerce Department reported a steep drop in U.S. retail sales in December. A separate report from the Federal Reserve showed industrial production in the U.S. fell by much more than expected in December.

As a result of the data, treasuries showed a substantial move to the upside, further stoking fears for the outlook of interest rates.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Wednesday amid concerns about a possible U.S. recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended lower by $0.70 or 0.9 percent at $79.48 a barrel.