South Korea Stock Market Tipped To Halt Its Slide

The South Korea stock market has finished lower in four straight sessions, tumbling more than 150 points or 5.4 percent along the way. Now at a fresh 14-month closing low, the KOSPI rests just beneath the 2,710-point plateau and it’s due for support on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed after the Federal Reserve signaled a rate hike in the near future, although it’s already been largely priced in. Surging crude oil prices should also limit the downside. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourse were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the technology stocks, gains from the financials and a mixed picture from the oil and industrial companies.

For the day, the index shed 11.15 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 2,709.24 after trading between 2,708.10 and 2,744.14. Volume was 466 million shares worth 8.8 trillion won. There were 487 decliners and 375 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial collected 1.59 percent, while KB Financial spiked 3.50 percent, Hana Financial surged 3.02 percent, Samsung Electronics dropped 0.95 percent, LG Electronics retreated 1.53 percent, SK Hynix shed 0.42 percent, Naver tanked 2.80 percent, LG Chem soared 3.27 percent, Lotte Chemical rose 0.25 percent, S-Oil rallied 3.36 percent, SK Innovation skidded 1.07 percent, POSCO climbed 1.13 percent, SK Telecom added 0.53 percent, KEPCO gained 0.48 percent, Hyundai Motor tumbled 2.31 percent and Kia Motors jumped 1.57 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed to lower as the major averages opened firmly higher on Wednesday before late selling sent the Dow and S&P into the red.

The Dow dropped 129.64 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 34,168.09, while the NASDAQ rose 2.82 points or 0.02 percent to close at 13,542.12 and the S&P 500 fell 6.52 points or 0.15 percent to end at 4,349.93.

The late-day pullback on Wall Street came after the Fed indicated that it plans to begin raising interest rates “soon,” citing elevated inflation and a strong labor market. The Fed left interest rates unchanged at near-zero levels as widely expected but said “it will soon be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate.”

The central bank also said it would further reduce the pace of its bond purchases to $30 billion per month beginning in February, with the Fed saying it expects to end its asset purchase program by early March.

In a separate statement, the Fed outlined plans to significantly reduce the size of its balance sheet, saying it expects to start the reductions after it begins raising interest rates.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Wednesday as prices climbed amid rising geopolitical tensions. U.S. President Joe Biden has warned Moscow of damaging sanctions, including measures personally targeting President Vladmir Putin, if Russia invades Ukraine. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $1.75 or 2 percent at $87.35 a barrel, the highest settlement since October 2014.