Mild Upside Predicted For South Korea Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market headed south again on Thursday, one session after snapping the two-day slide in which it had fallen more than 30 points or 1.3 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,320-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on continuing concerns over inflation, recession and interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The KOSPI finished slightly lower on Thursday following mixed performances from the financials, technology stocks and automobile producers.

For the day, the index slipped 6.29 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 2,322.32 after trading between 2,307.69 and 2,338.29. Volume was 344 million shares worth 6.4 trillion won. There were 433 gainers and 418 decliners.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial tumbled 1.73 percent, while KB Financial rose 0.11 percent, Hana Financial tanked 2.38 percent, Samsung Electronics dropped 0.86 percent, Samsung SDI soared 2.46 percent, LG Electronics dropped 0.99 percent, Naver stumbled 1.68 percent, LG Chem rallied 2.51 percent, Lotte Chemical added 0.30 percent, S-Oil advanced 0.78 percent, SK Innovation soared 3.60 percent, POSCO retreated 1.55 percent, SK Telecom declined 1.61 percent, KEPCO slumped 1.60 percent, Hyundai Motor shed 0.54 percent, Hyundai Mobis gained 0.71 percent, Kia Motors skidded 1.25 percent and SK Hynix was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed and flat as the major averages shook off a sharply lower open on Thursday, improving as the day progressed and ending little changed on opposite sides of the line.

The Dow shed 142.62 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 30,630.17, while the NASDAQ rose 3.60 points or 0.03 percent to close at 11,251.19 and the S&P 500 slid 11.40 points or 0.30 percent to end at 3,790.38.

The early weakness on Wall Street reflected disappointing earnings news from financial giants JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Morgan Stanley (MS), which both missed expectations.

Concerns about inflation and higher interest rates also continued to weigh on the markets after the Labor Department reported that U.S. producer prices increased more than expected in June.

Another report from the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly inched higher last week.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Thursday as concerns about the outlook for energy demand resurfaced amid fears of a possible recession due to rising interest rates. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $0.52 or 0.5 percent at $95.78 a barrel.