Little Movement Seen For South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market on Thursday snapped the three-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 40 points or 1.6 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,555-point plateau and it may it's likely to remain in that neighborhood again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat ahead of key U.S. employment data later in the day. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished slightly lower on Thursday as losses from the technology and industrial stocks were mitigated by support from the financials and chemicals.

For the day, the index dipped 4.95 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 2,556.27. Volume was 461.5 million shares worth 10.8 trillion won. There were 515 decliners and 352 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.42 percent, while KB Financial soared 2.85 percent, Hana Financial climbed 1.02 percent, Samsung Electronics fell 0.30 percent, Samsung SDI strengthened 1.32 percent, LG Electronics tumbled 1.60 percent, SK Hynix soared 2.01 percent, Naver retreated 1.38 percent, LG Chem rallied 1.22 percent, Lotte Chemical jumped 1.94 percent, S-Oil stumbled 1.22 percent, SK Innovation slumped 1.39 percent, POSCO eased 0.17 percent, SK Telecom shed 0.52 percent, KEPCO declined 1.49 percent, Hyundai Mobis lost 0.43 percent, Hyundai Motor added 0.69 percent and Kia Motors dipped 0.25 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher but faded as the day progressed, ending on opposite side of the unchanged line.

The Dow sank 168.33 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 34,721.91, while the NASDAQ added 15.66 points or 0.11 percent to close at 14,034.97 and the S&P 500 eased 7.21 points or 0.16 percent to end at 4,507.66.

The early strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to a Commerce Department report showing consumer price growth in the U.S. accelerated in line with forecasts in July.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the closely watched jobs report later today.

Crude oil moved sharply higher on Thursday, advancing for the sixth consecutive session following another steep drop in U.S. crude oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate for October delivery surged $2 or 2.5 percent to $83.63 a barrel, a three-week closing high.

Closer to home, South Korea will release August figures for imports, exports and trade balance later this morning. Imports are expected to tumble 25.4 percent on year, unchanged from the July reading. Exports are capped lower by an annual 16.4 percent after sinking 16.5 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $1.65 billion, up from $1.63 billion a month earlier.