Mild Consolidation Likely For South Korea Shares

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has tracked lower in back-to-back sessions, sinking more than 60 points or 2.5 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,400-point plateau and it's likely to remain in neutral again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to lower ahead of key U.S. employment data later in the day. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were slightly lower and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished barely lower on Thursday following losses from the financials and oil companies and mixed performances from the chemicals and industrials.

For the day, the index dipped 2.09 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 2,403.60. Volume was 446.01 million shares worth 8.96 trillion won. There were 583 decliners and 295 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial tanked 2.14 percent, while KB Financial tumbled 2.01 percent, Hana Financial retreated 1.21 percent, Samsung Electronics skidded 1.19 percent, Samsung SDI advanced 0.93 percent, LG Electronics gained 0.72 percent, SK Hynix surged 4.16 percent, Naver dropped 0.94 percent, LG Chem soared 3.29 percent, Lotte Chemical declined 1.22 percent, S-Oil surrendered 2.82 percent, SK Innovation slumped 1.13 percent, SK Telecom plunged 4.02 percent, KEPCO shed 0.69 percent, Hyundai Mobis fell 0.43 percent, Hyundai Motor eased 0.16 percent, Kia Motors accelerated 1.95 percent and POSCO was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Thursday, tumbled and then rebounded but still ended slightly under water.

The Dow dipped 9.98 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 33,119.57, while the NASDAQ fell 16.18 points or 0.12 percent to close at 13,219.83 and the S&P 500 eased 5.56 points or 0.13 percent to end at 4,258.19.

The early weakness on Wall Street came as traders remained worried about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the release of closely watched employment data later today.

Selling pressure waned over the course of the session, however, with a continue pullback by treasuries inspiring some traders to pick up stocks at reduced levels.

Ahead of the monthly jobs report, the Labor Department reported a slight uptick in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Thursday amid uncertainty about the outlook for demand and due to disappointment over OPEC's decision to not increase the size of production cuts. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November sank $1.91 or 2.3 percent at $82.31 a barrel.