Soft Start Anticipated For South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has closed lower in four straight sessions, sinking more than 95 points or 4 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,380-point plateau and it's tipped to open under pressure again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on recession concerns and on the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

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

For the day, the index dropped 10.35 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 2,382.81 after trading between 2,377.98 and 2,394.88. Volume was 323.9 million shares worth 5.9 trillion won. There were 540 decliners and 311 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial tumbled 1.72 percent, while KB Financial tanked 2.50 percent, Hana Financial plunged 2.76 percent, Samsung Electronics lost 0.51 percent, Samsung SDI rose 0.28 percent, LG Electronics crashed 7.10 percent, SK Hynix slumped 2.59 percent, Naver stumbled 1.08 percent, LG Chem skidded 1.02 percent, Lotte Chemical rallied 2.43 percent, S-Oil surrendered 2.57 percent, SK Innovation plummeted 3.52 percent, POSCO climbed 1.22 percent, SK Telecom fell 0.40 percent, KEPCO improved 0.76 percent, Hyundai Mobis advanced 0.73 percent, Hyundai Motor dropped 0.91 percent and Kia Motors dipped 0.15 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed to lower following a volatile Wednesday that saw the major averages bounce back and forth across the unchanged line before ending on opposite sides.

The Dow rose 1.58 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 33,597.92, while the NASDAQ sank 56.34 points or 0.51 percent to end at 10,958.55 and the S&P 500 dipped 7.34 points or 0.19 percent to close at 3,933.92.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders expressed uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets ahead of next week's Federal Reserve meeting.

The Fed still seems poised to slow the pace of interest rate hikes, but recent upbeat economic data has raised concerns about how much further the central bank will raise rates at future meetings.

The recent selling on Wall Street partly reflects worries the Fed will need to push the economy into a prolonged recession in order to bring inflation down close to its 2 percent target.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Wednesday, weighed down by data showing a sharp increase in gasoline inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for January ended lower by $2.24 or 3 percent at $72.01 a barrel, losing for the fourth consecutive session.