South Korea Stock Market May Stop The Bleeding On Friday

The South Korea stock market has finished lower in back-to-back trading days, sinking almost 40 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The KOSPI now rests just beneath the 3,010-point plateau although it’s expected to halt its slide on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on expectations for solid earnings news and support from crude oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S, bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financials and oil companies, while the chemical and technology companies were mixed.

For the day, the index slipped 15.94 points or 0.53 percent to finish at the daily low of 3,009.55 after peaking at 3,034.42. Volume was 608 million shares worth 12.2 trillion won. There were 661 decliners and 210 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial plunged 2.40 percent, while KB Financial declined 1.37 percent, Hana Financial tumbled 1.95 percent, Samsung Electronics advanced 0.86 percent, SK Hynix soared 4.93 percent, Naver fell 0.36 percent, LG Chem spiked 3.03 percent, Lotte Chemical skidded 1.29 percent, S-Oil plummeted 4.69 percent, SK Innovation surrendered 2.99 percent, POSCO tanked 2.27 percent, KEPCO dropped 0.87 percent, Hyundai Motor retreated 1.64 percent, Kia Motors climbed 1.18 percent and SK Telecom and LG Electronics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened firmly higher on Thursday and stayed in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow jumped 239.79 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 35,730.48, while the NASDAQ spiked 212.28 points or 1.39 percent to close at 15,448.12 and the S&P 500 gained 44.74 points or 0.98 percent to end at 4,596.42.

A positive reaction to the latest batch of earnings news from big-name companies helped stocks renew the upward trend seen in recent sessions, fueled by the likes of Ford (F), Brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD), Caterpillar (CAT) and Merck (MRK).

Adding to the positive sentiment, a report from the Labor Department showed initial jobless claims fell for the fourth straight week last week.

Crude oil futures settled marginally higher Thursday, recovering from an early setback as prices were weighed down by data showing an increase in U.S. crude inventories and the prospect of Iranian crude entering the market. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December ended up by $0.15 or 0.2 percent at $82.81 a barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will provide September figures for industrial production and retail sales later this morning. Industrial production is tipped to fall 0.3 percent on month and rise 1.4 percent on year after shedding 0.7 percent on month and climbing 9.6 percent on year in August. Retail sales sank 0.8 percent on month and advanced 3.8 percent on year in August.