South Korea Shares May Be Stuck In Neutral On Thursday

The South Korea stock market turned slightly lower again on Wednesday, one day after snapping the two-day losing streak in which it had slipped almost 20 points or 0.8 percent. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 2,520-point plateau and it’s likely to remain in that neighborhood again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat ahead of key U.S. inflation data later today. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets expect to follow the latter lead.

The KOSPI finished barely lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares and a mixed picture among the technology stocks.

For the day, the index eased 1.95 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 2,519.81 after trading between 2,501.44 and 2,523.98. Volume was 571.6 million shares worth 9.27 trillion won. There were 598 decliners and 272 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial tumbled 1.89 percent, while KB Financial retreated 1.34 percent, Hana Financial dropped 0.84 percent, Samsung SDI surged 3.63 percent, LG Electronics skidded 1.05 percent, SK Hynix and SK Telecom both sank 0.76 percent, Lotte Chemical stumbled 1.20 percent, S-Oil declined 1.14 percent, SK Innovation improved 0.71 percent, POSCO climbed 1.05 percent, KEPCO tanked 2.16 percent, Hyundai Mobis slumped 1.28 percent, Hyundai Motor lost 0.48 percent, Kia Motors accelerated 1.65 percent and Samsung Electronics, Naver and LG Chem were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but faded as the day progressed, ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow rose 13.44 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 35,430.42, while the NASDAQ slid 23.27 points or 0.16 percent to close at 14,258.49 and the S&P 500 dipped 4.31 points or 0.09 percent to end at 4,550.58.

Stocks saw early strength amid ongoing optimism about the outlook for interest rates, also riding a surge by shares of General Motors (GM) after the auto giant announced a $10 billion stock buyback and increased dividend.

Buying interest waned as the day has progress, however, with traders looking ahead to the release of key inflation readings later today.

Crude oil showed another strong move to the upside on Wednesday, extending gains from the previous session ahead of a key OPEC meeting later today. West Texas Intermediate for January delivery jumped $1.45 or 1.9 percent to $77.86 a barrel.