South Korea Bourse Likely To Be Rangebound On Thursday

The South Korea stock market on Wednesday ended the three-day winning streak in which it had soared more than 105 points or 4.3 percent. The KOSPI now rests just above the 2,375-point plateau and it may remain stuck in neutral on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat and mixed to lower on recession concerns and sliding crude oil prices. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The KOSPI finished sharply lower on Wednesday following heavy losses from the industrials, financials, technology stocks and chemical companies.

For the day, the index tumbled 44.10 points or 1.82 percent to finish at 2,377.99 after trading between 2,375.45 and 2,393.25. Volume was 411 million shares worth 7.7 trillion won. There were 511 decliners and 336 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial stumbled 2.95 percent, while KB Financial declined 2.63 percent, Hana Financial retreated 2.09 percent, Samsung Electronics tumbled 2.36 percent, Samsung SDI lost 1.89 percent, LG Electronics surged 1.91 percent, SK Hynix skidded 1.36 percent, Naver tanked 2.38 percent, LG Chem cratered 7.02 percent, Lotte Chemical dropped 3.13 percent, SK Innovation shed 0.74 percent, POSCO surrendered 3.70 percent, SK Telecom slumped 2.75 percent, KEPCO jumped 1.59 percent, Hyundai Motor plunged 5.65 percent, Kia Motors plummeted 6.11 percent and S-Oil was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is fairly flat as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday, spiked up and down throughout the day before finally ending the session mixed and little changed.

The Dow climbed 82.32 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 31,029.31, while the NASDAQ dipped 3.65 points or 0.03 percent to close at 11,177.89 and the S&P 500 eased 2.72 points or 0.07 percent to end at 3,818.83.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets kept traders on the sidelines following recent volatility.

Traders also kept an eye on remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who participated in a panel discussion at the European Central Bank Forum on Central Banking. Powell reiterated that the U.S. economy is “well positioned to withstand tighter monetary policy” but cautioned there’s no guarantee the Fed can engineer a “soft landing.”

In economic news, revised data from the Commerce Department showed U.S. economic activity shrank by slightly more than previously estimated in the first quarter of 2022.

Crude oil prices drifted lower Wednesday, snapping a three-day winning streak with traders looking to the two-day OPEC meeting that began today to discuss supply issues. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $1.98 or 1.8 percent at $109.78 a barrel.

Closer to home, South Korea will provide May numbers for industrial production and retail sales later this morning. Output is expected to rise 0.5 percent on month and 3.1 percent on year after sinking 3.3 percent on month and climbing 3.3 percent on year in April. Retail sales were down 0.2 percent on month and up 0.5 percent on year in April.

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