South Korea Stock Market Tipped To Open Under Pressure

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has finished higher in two of three trading days since the end of the four-day losing streak in which it had tumbled almost 150 points or 6.3 percent. The KOSPI now sits just above the 2,170-point plateau although it's expected to turn lower again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is brutal on growing fears of a recession and rising interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished slightly higher on Thursday following gains from the automobile producers, weakness from the technology stocks and mixed performances from the financials and oil and chemical companies.

For the day, the index perked 1.64 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 2,170.93 after trading between 2,170.14 and 2,210.61. Volume was 499 million shares worth 7.1 trillion won. There were 440 gainers and 417 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 0.91 percent, while KB Financial dipped 0.23 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.57 percent, LG Electronics slumped 1.64 percent, SK Hynix lost 0.49 percent, Naver dropped 2.00 percent, LG Chem rose 0.18 percent, Lotte Chemical fell 0.34 percent, S-Oil surged 3.59 percent, SK Innovation declined 1.68 percent, POSCO and SK Telecom both retreated 1.57 percent, KEPCO rallied 2.60 percent, Hyundai Mobis jumped 1.54 percent, Hyundai Motor climbed 1.11 percent, Kia Motors advanced 0.81 percent and Hana Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened sharply lower on Thursday and remained deeply in the red, although they closed off of sessions lows.

The Dow tumbled 458.13 points or 1.54 percent to finish at 29,225.61, while the NASDAQ plunged 314.13 points or 2.84 percent to close at 10,737.51 and the S&P 500 dropped 78.57 points or 2.11 percent to end at 3,640.47.

The sharp pullback on Wall Street came as traders cashed in on Wednesday's gains, as the buying interest generated by the Bank of England's bond market intervention quickly evaporated. The moves by the BoE contributed to a pullback by bond yields and the U.S. dollar, inspiring traders to pick up stocks at reduced levels. But bond yields moved back to the upside, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note partly offsetting Wednesday's 25.9 basis point plunge.

A Labor Department report showing first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits unexpectedly fell to a five-month low last week also weighed on the markets. While the report points to continued strength in the labor market, traders may view the data as giving the Federal Reserve confidence that it can continue to aggressively raise interest rates.

Adding to the negative sentiment on Wall Street, data from Freddie Mac showed the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.70 percent in the week ending September 29th, up from 6.29 percent the week before.

Crude oil prices fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Thursday before closing lower on concerns about the outlook for energy demand amidst a possible global recession. West Texas Intermediate for November delivery slid $0.92 or 1.1 percent to $81.23 per barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will release August data for industrial production and retail sales later this morning. Industrial production is forecast to have slipped 0.5 percent on month and gained 1.3 percent on year after shedding 1.3 percent on month and rising 1.5 percent on year in July. Retail sales were down 0.3 percent on month and 1.9 percent on year in July.