South Korea Bourse May Extend Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has tracked lower in back-to-back sessions, slipping more than 35 points or 1.5 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,330-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the red again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on recession fears and concern over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the industrials and mixed performances from the technology, finance, oil and chemical companies.

For the day, the index shed 14.90 points or 0.63 percent to finish at 2,332.31 after trading between 2,309.10 and 2,335.11. Volume was 436.1 million shares worth 7.3 trillion won. There were 579 decliners and 299 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial dipped 0.28 percent, while KB Financial collected 0.51 percent, Hana Financial lost 0.52 percent, Samsung Electronics retreated 1.63 percent, Samsung SDI jumped 1.62 percent, LG Electronics plunged 3.07 percent, SK Hynix tanked 2.27 percent, Naver plunged 3.05 percent, LG Chem perked 0.16 percent, Lotte Chemical fell 0.29 percent, S-Oil climbed 1.24 percent, SK Innovation declined 1.68 percent, POSCO skidded 1.05 percent, SK Telecom sank 0.58 percent, KEPCO soared 2.78 percent, Hyundai Mobis weakened 1.18 percent, Hyundai Motor tumbled 1.78 percent and Kia Motors slumped 0.63 percent.

The lead from Wall Street continues to be weak as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and remained in the red throughout the session.

The Dow shed 107.10 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 30,076.68, while the NASDAQ tumbled 153.39 points or 1.37 percent to end at 11,066.81 and the S&P 500 sank 31.94 points or 0.84 percent to close at 3,757.99.

The weakness on Wall Street reflected continued concerns about the economic outlook following the Federal Reserve's third straight 75-basis point interest rate hike on Wednesday.

While the Fed's economic projections provided a clearer outlook for future rate hikes, traders are concerned about the impact the aggressive rate increases will have on the economy. Several other central banks around the world followed the Fed's lead, including the Bank of England, which raised interest rates by 50 basis points in a split decision.

In economic news, Labor Department reported an uptick in jobless claims last week, while the Conference Board said its leading economic index fell by 0.3 percent in August after sliding by a revised 0.5 percent in July.

Crude oil prices settled higher on Thursday on concerns about tight supplies amid geopolitical tensions in Russia. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended higher by $0.55 or 0.7 percent at $83.49 a barrel.