South Korea Shares Poised To Halt Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished lower in six straight sessions, slumping almost 130 points or 5 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,540-point plateau and it's overdue for support on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously ahead of key U.S. inflation data later this week, which will affect the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Wednesday as losses from the financials and technology stocks were mitigated by support from the automobile companies.

For the day, the index shed 19.26 points or 0.75 percent to finish at 2,541.98. Volume was 555.7 million shares worth 8.46 trillion won. There were 536 decliners and 338 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial declined 1.34 percent, KB Financial tumbled 2.10 percent, Hana Financial skidded 1.20 percent, Samsung Electronics retreated 1.47 percent, Samsung SDI plunged 3.59 percent, LG Electronics was down 0.82 percent, SK Hynix tanked 2.84 percent, Naver added 0.65 percent, LG Chem dropped 1.48 percent, Lotte Chemical slumped 1.50 percent, S-Oil sank 0.74 percent, SK Innovation lost 2.05 percent, POSCO surrendered 2.17 percent, SK Telecom shed 0.51 percent, KEPCO stumbled 1.31 percent, Hyundai Mobis rose 0.23 percent, Hyundai Motor gained 0.59 percent and Kia Motors accelerated 1.57 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday and accelerated throughout the session.

The Dow jumped 170.57 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 37,695.73, while the NASDAQ rallied 111.94 points or 0.75 percent to end at 14,969.65 and the S&P 500 gained 26.95 points or 0.57 percent to close at 4,783.45.

The strength on Wall Street may have reflected optimism ahead of the release of key U.S. inflation data in the comings days.

The Labor Department's reports on consumer and producer price inflation, which are due to be released on Thursday and Friday, respectively, could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.

With economists expecting the reports to show slowdowns in the annual rate of core price growth, the data could bolster optimism about near-term rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

Crude oil prices dropped on Wednesday after data showed an unexpected increase in U.S. crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February delivery ended down $0.87 at $71.37 a barrel.