South Korea Stock Market May Take Further Damage On Friday

The South Korea stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, slipping more than 40 points or 1.7 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 2,560-point plateau and it may extend its losses again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative on growing concerns about the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished modestly lower on Thursday as losses from the financials, chemicals and technology stocks were tempered by support from the automobile producers.

For the day, the index sank 22.71 points or 0.88 percent to finish at 2,556.29. Volume was 524.7 million shares worth 10.2 trillion won. There were 751 decliners and 151 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial declined 2.07 percent, while KB Financial retreated 2.20 percent, Hana Financial plunged 2.69 percent, Samsung Electronics shed 0.56 percent, Samsung SDI lost 0.71 percent, LG Electronics surrendered 2.26 percent, SK Hynix tanked 2.49 percent, Naver surged 4.83 percent, LG Chem stumbled 1.78 percent, Lotte Chemical sank 0.97 percent, S-Oil skidded 1.08 percent, SK Innovation shed 0.84 percent, POSCO tumbled 2.23 percent, SK Telecom slumped 1.89 percent, KEPCO dropped 0.99 percent, Hyundai Mobis improved 0.43 percent, Hyundai Motor gained 0.49 percent and Kia Motors accelerated 1.02 percent.

The lead from Wall Street suggests consolidation as the major averages opened firmly lower on Thursday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow plunged 366.38 points or 1.07 percent to finish at 33,922.26, while the NASDAQ tumbled 112.61 points or 0.82 percent to close at 13,679.04 and the S&P 500 sank 35.23 points or 0.79 percent to end at 4,411.59.

The early sell-off on Wall Street came as a batch of largely upbeat U.S. economic data added to concerns about the outlook for interest rates following Wednesday’s hawkish Federal Reserve minutes.

Before the start of trading, payroll processor ADP released a report showing much stronger than expected private sector job growth in June. While the surge in private sector employment paints a positive picture of the economy, it also may convince the Fed to resume raising interest rates.

The Institute for Supply Management also released a report showing the pace of growth in the service sector accelerated by much more than expected in June.

Oil futures settled roughly flat on Thursday with traders weighing the impact of higher interest rates on growth and energy demand against data showing a drop in crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August settled at $71.80 a barrel, up a penny from the previous close.

Closer to home, South Korea will provide May data for its current account later this morning, with forecasts suggesting a deficit of $0.65 billion following the $0.79 billion shortfall in April.