The South Korea stock market has finished lower in back-to-back trading days, sinking more than 50 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just above the 3,250-point plateau and it may take further damage on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on concerns over the spread of the coronavirus variant. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the financial shares, oil and technology stocks and automobile and chemical companies.
For the day, the index shed 32.66 points or 0.99 percent to finish at 3,252.68 after trading between 3,252.41 and 3,295.71. Volume was 1.5 billion shares worth 16.5 trillion won. There were 777 decliners and 106 gainers.
Among the actives, Shinhan Financial shed 0.64 percent, while KB Financial dropped 0.95 percent, Hana Financial lost 0.80 percent, Samsung Electronics skidded 1.11 percent, LG Electronics plunged 3.03 percent, SK Hynix retreated 1.82 percent, Naver advanced 1.08 percent, LG Chem surrendered 1.49 percent, Lotte Chemical fell 0.77 percent, S-Oil plummeted 4.27 percent, SK Innovation sank 1.28 percent, SK Telecom advanced 0.79 percent, KEPCO tumbled 1.41 percent, Hyundai Motor declined 1.08 percent, Kia Motors was down 1.03 percent and POSCO was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks opened sharply lower on Thursday, made back some ground as the day progressed but still ended firmly in the red.
The Dow plunged 259.86 points or 0.75 percent to finish at 34,421.93, while the NASDAQ dropped 105.28 points or 0.72 percent to end at 14,559.79 and the S&P 500 sank 37.31 points or 0.86 percent to close at 4,320.82.
Concerns about the outlook for the global economy contributed to the early sell-off on Wall Street, while news that Japan has declared a new state of emergency for Tokyo ahead of the Olympic Games added to worries about the impact of new coronavirus variants.
In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing initial jobless claims unexpectedly inched higher last week.
Crude oil futures settled higher Thursday after data showed a bigger than expected decline in crude inventories in the U.S. last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended up by $0.74 or 1 percent at $72.94 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Losing Streak Tipped To Continue For South Korea Shares
2021-07-08 23:00:12
